


House Cat

by sweetspacebaby



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Eventual Romance, Gay Keith (Voltron), Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Lance (Voltron) is a Mess, Language, M/M, Maybe other ships - Freeform, Orphan Keith (Voltron), Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Build, Slow Burn, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), Trust Issues, Werecats, klance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-05
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-02-28 11:50:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 47,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13270860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sweetspacebaby/pseuds/sweetspacebaby
Summary: Werecats are hard to find outside of lab facilities now-a-days and Lance has had a suspicion that a small stray that comes by his house now and then is one when he noticed a new face around town around the same time. / Modern AU setting with werecats for fun and seriousness now and then. Klance heavy with Garrison Trio and maybe some more ships making an appearance later on.





	1. Chapter 1

There are those of us who breathe in one soul with our first breath of life, but then there are others that breathe in two. These special few are known as werecats. They are special beings that are either born human or feline, but could live both lives how they please. Most chose to stay with their fellow surroundings, using their abilities in great times of stress, but others live their lives freely between both worlds.

For centuries, werecats and humans lived side-by-side as equals until a period of witch-hunts deemed the species to be too dangerous to trust. These events almost lead them into extinction until new generations realized their mistake and stopped the hunts before it was too late. Today, humans live as the dominant species around the world, thinking of the many werecats they once lived with as a distant memory. The only surviving specimen living in labs and in enclosures as their cat form. But some are still free, disguised as their human counterparts as a means of survival.

Although their numbers have greatly decreased from what they once were, some still question whether their friends or neighbors are really a ferocious tiger or a shifty alley cat. Even some question the big cats they see in zoos sleeping in the sun.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

“There he is!”

“There who is?” Pidge asked as she looked at Lance, confused at why he was hiding behind an alley wall.

“The guy!” Lance clarified in a hush tone as he pointed around the corner.

Pidge signed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Hunk, please explain.”

“Lance thinks that guy over there is this stray cat that he unofficially owns.” Hunk explained as he pointed down the road toward a teen that was standing at a small magazine stand. The boy had black hair that reach to the base of his neck and even though he was dressed in casual, unimpressive clothes, he was wearing a dulled red colored jacket that made him stand out a bit from the other people on the street.

Pidge squinted her eyes. “Um, Lance, hate to break it to you, but that’s a guy not a cat.”

“I know that! He’s a werecat! I just know it.” Lance responded as he looked around the corner.

“You sure that you just have a crush on him instead? He looks to be your type.” Hunk suggested, trying to find any way out of his friend’s current paranoia.

“As right as you are Hunk about him being my type, I do not have a crush on him. I’m certain that he’s the cat that’s been coming by my room every night.”

“And what makes you so certain that a stray alley cat can be a werecat, let alone already know what it’s human form looks like? Especially when finding one outside of a lab is like a one in a million chance now.” Pidge argued, her patience running thin.

“No! I’m sure of it! Just hear me out.” Lance said, trying to get his friends on his side. “So anyway, right before school started this little alley cat was meowing right by my window. I opened it up and it just jumped right in and went straight for my food stash that I had under my bed and stole one of my honeybuns. A week later, it came back and did the same thing. So, then I started buying food for it, like actual cat food.”

“What other kind would you get?” Pidge muttered under her breath.

“Anyway,” Lance said pointedly at Pidge, “this continued for a while longer and now it comes by every night after I get back home from school. Sometimes it even falls asleep with me when it’s cold outside. But recently, I’ve been noticing that guy over there more and more on my walks home. Sometimes he’s near the school or near my house, but he’s always somewhere on my route.”

“So? It’s a small town. Maybe he’s new around here?” Pidge interrupted again.

“Nugget! Please! Let me finish!” Lance responded irritably, making Pidge steam at his nickname for her. “Now, I usually leave my window open so the cat can leave when it wants during the night. But last time, I was up late studying for my exam and it had already feel sleep. I was getting cold, so before I went to sleep, I closed my window. You would think that I would wake up to a meowing cat wanting to get out the next morning, but no. I woke up to my alarm and my window being open. Now explain that to me!”

Pidge just stared at Lance and then glanced over at Hunk. “So how long have you been forced to listen to this story?”

“Pretty much since it started.” Hunk responded.

“You two are horrible friends!” Lance shouted.

“No, we’re just the only people willing to listen to your crazy stories.” Pidge said as she looked down the road. “By the way, your dream prince left so can we go now?”

Lance instantly calmed down and looked around the corner from his hiding spot. The mysterious teen was now gone from the magazine stand and the coast was clear. “Oh, I guess so.” Lance said as he stepped out of his hiding place.

“Good,” Pidge sighed and she adjusted her bookbag. “Oh, and one more thing.” She then quickly punched Lance’s arm. “Quit calling me Nugget!”

Lance screamed in pain and quickly put Hunk between him and Pidge. “Hunk did you see that?”

Hunk shrugged his shoulders. “Don’t cry to me, you provoked it.” Both him and Pidge then started to walk off, leaving Lance behind.

“I need new friends,” Lance pouted as he followed them.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The sun was beginning to set once Lance reached his house, shadows from the row of buildings across the street making his block seem dark and isolated. As he pushed the front gate open, a soccer ball rolled away from the gate till it hit a discarded tricycle. The entire front lawn was covered in kids’ toys, making the home seem more like a daycare more than a home. Lance kicked the soccer ball toward him and continued to kick it with him down the walkway to his front door. Before reaching the small series of steps, he kicked the soccer ball to the side toward a small goal by the bushed. Just as the ball hit the net, a blast of noise rang through the air after Lance opened his front door. Once he walked in and closed it, the small neighborhood was silent and isolated again, as if he entered another world that no one knew about.

“Mamá! I’m home!” Lance yelled over the sound of a television as he walked through the small foyer, avoiding even more toys.

“Lance! What took you so long?!” Lance’s mother yelled as she came out of the kitchen doorway. She was about in her mid-forties, but her tired look made her seem much older.

“Sorry mamá. Me and the guys stopped by a shop to grab a snack and walked through the park. Pidge wanted to scout for a good spot for her and her brother to star gaze tonight.” Lance kicked another toy out of his path. “I’m guessing the twins gave you a hard time today?”

“Even though the doctor said they were sick, they haven’t acted like it all day,” Lance’s mother huffed as she pushed back the loose strands of her brunette hair. “That’s why I need you home right after school. It’s not easy watching them, especially now that your sister’s off at college.”

Lance frowned. “Sorry, again. I promise I’ll be home earlier tomorrow.”

“Thank you honey. Do you mind getting them ready for bed tonight while I do the dishes after dinner?”

Lance smiled. “You can count of me. I’ll have those little suckers down by 9.”

“Thank you so much.” Lance’s mother stood up on her toes so that she could kiss her son’s cheek. “You mind checking on them for me on your way to your room? They were taking a nap last time I checked. And if you see a toy on your way, please pick it up for me, my back is still a bit sore.”

“Will do,” Lance said with a wink before walking toward the long hallway on the other side of the living room.

Once in the hallway, Lance took the number of kids toys he had picked up on his way and went to take them to the first door on his left. When he entered the room, it looked just like any kid’s rooms with forgotten toys sitting outside their bins. On one side of the room, a children’s movie was playing on a television that was sitting on top of a small table and on the other side was a bunk bed with very distinct decorations for each bunk. On the bottom, the blankets were dark toned and super hero and car stickers covered the walls around the bed. The top portion was built for a princess with pink blankets and sequined pillows and a white canopy hanging from above for added effect.

“I thought you two were taking a nap?” Lance said as he took the toys he collected over to one of the empty bins in the room.

“We were but then we woke up.” The little boy on the bottom bunk said as he continued to watch the movie. “Lillian tried to get me to watch a girly movie but I said no and stole the remote.”

“Aiden that’s not nice.” Lance frowned as he looked at his younger brother, who only shrugged in response. Lance then walked over to the bed to check on his little sister in the top bunk. “Hey Lilly-Bean. You want a friend with you?” Lance asked as he held up a doll for his sister to see.

Lillian was curled up against one of her bigger pillows, fighting sleep so she could watch the movie. She nodded her head and held out her hand for the doll. “I was up first,” she mumbled tiredly.

Lillian’s cheeks were a bright pink and she was paler than her usual complexion. Lance reached through the mesh canopy to feel his baby sister’s temperature. “You feel a bit warm. Maybe you should stay in bed for the rest of the night. I’ll tell mamá and bring you your dinner.”

“Thanks Lance.” Lillian gave her big brother one of her sweet smiles that shot him right in the heart.

Lance then bent down and looked at his baby brother. His complexion was a bit darker than his twin sister’s but Lance could still see a bit of red in his cheeks. He then placed the back of his hand on Aiden’s forehead. “You’re warm too, but not as much as Lilly.”

Aiden shrugged his shoulders, still watching his movie. “I’m fine. What’s mamá making for dinner?”

“It’s a surprise. You both should try to sleep some more before then.” The twins gave him a unison ‘ok’ – Aiden staying where he was and watching the movie, Lillian moving around to get under her covers. Lance smiled at them both. “Ok then, I’ll let you know when it’s time to eat.” He then walked out and went toward his room at the end of the hallway.

Lance’s room was small with only a bed that was a bit bigger than a twin, a desk, and an entertainment system being able to fit in there. He threw his bookbag on the floor by his desk before falling on his bed. His few moments of silence were short lived before Lance could head loud meowing coming from his window.

“Oh crap!” Lance jumped off his bed and went straight to open the window by his desk. Right away a small black cat jumped through the window and settled into Lance’s room by sitting in the middle of the room before grooming itself. “Sorry bud, it took me a bit longer to get back home today. I hope you weren’t waiting long.” The cat looked back at Lance over its shoulder, as if it understood what he said and then went back to grooming its fur. “I bet you’re hungry.” Lance went over to dig through his bookbag. “I stopped by the store too and got you some tuna and wheat grass you can try. The worker there said that it was safe for cats to eat so hopefully you’ll like it.” Lance dug out the pet shop bag from his bookbag and pulled out the potted wheat grass and tuna. “They even tried to talk me into buying you food in bulk at first, saying it would be cheaper. But you don’t really live here and with how snoopy the twins get now and then, I can’t have cans of cat food sitting around. That’s when they suggested the wheat grass, that way if you end up coming by and I don’t have food, you can eat that instead.” Lance placed the potted wheat grass on the floor in front of him and waited for the cat to finish what it was doing and actually interact with him.

The cat stretched out its front legs and yawned. It then walked over to the wheat grass and sniffed at it. If cats were to be able to make facial expressions, it would have frowned and turned its nose at the plant from how it reacted.

Lance laughed a little at the reaction. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t like it at first. You’re really picky with what you eat. Let me go drain this and I’ll feed you.” Lance then got off his floor and left his room to go drain the water out of the can of tuna.

Once alone, the cat looked around the room and then zeroed in on Lance’s desk. It jumped on top of the desk and walked over to the edge and leaned over to look out the window. Outside in the alley right by Lance’s window as a small group of dirty alley cats sniffing around the area and jumping up on some of the boxes and trashcans that neighbors leave there. One stray began to sniff at a small bag that was left in the alley, making it growl at it through the window till the stray moved away.

“Are you already wanting out?” Lance asked when he walked back in his room and saw the black cat sitting on top of his desk. The cat quickly turned around and jumped to Lance’s bed and sat down on the pillow, waiting for its food to be brought to them. “Ok, sorry I asked. Here’s your food.” Lance said as he placed the small can of tuna on his bed before taking a seat next to it.

He watched the cat eat for a while, taking note that it wasn’t as skinny as it used to be when if first broke into his bedroom. Also, it’s fur looked to be less matted and well-groomed which made Lance wonder if the cat ever goes to anyone else for care.

“You know, I had a suspicion that you were a werecat for the past couple of weeks now.” The cat froze for a second. “But when I talked about it with my friends and can see how that would be a crazy thing to think.” The cat then went back to eat, seeming to be spooked by a sound that Lance didn’t notice. “I mean, it’s really rare to see a werecat outside a lab now-a-days. The only way they could be found outside of them would be if they escaped from one or something. But even if that were to happen, the chance that you could be one are very low.” Lance reached over and scratched the cat’s head as it ate, letting his hand drift down to pet and pinch at one of the cat’s ears. A small growl came from the cat’s throat as it glared up at Lance. “Sorry, forgot that you don’t like your ears touched,” Lance said as he held his hands up in defense.

“Besides, even if you were one, I doubt one would risk exposure by coming by someone’s house just to be fed and stay warm. Why do that when they could just stay in their human form and just live a normal life? I mean, you stole my snacks from me the first time we met, something I’m sure a werecat wouldn’t do. It’s too much of animal instinct.” Lance paused mid-monologue when he felt a slight pressure on his leg. He looked down to see the cat climb into his lap and begin to knead at his leg before curling up and lying down. Lance smiled at the cat and scratched it’s back. “You know, you can stay here if you want. Mamá and Pops wouldn’t really mind having a cat and Lillian would spoil you nonstop. The only person you would have to have to worry about is Aiden whenever he’s bored. He turns into a demon then.” The cat then began to purr as it fell deeper into sleep as Lance continued to scratch its back. “But it’s up to you if you want to stay or not. I’m ok with things being how they are right now if that’s how you want them.”

The night continued like usual for Lance and his family. Once dinner was ready, he left the cat in his room to continue sleeping and went to join the rest of his family. After dinner he kept his promise he made with his mother and took care of his twin siblings after dinner, giving them their medicine and getting them ready for bed. He helped his mother finish cleaning around the house before his father came home for the night and went back to his room to do homework. His little guest was still fast asleep on his pillow, like every night before then whenever the cat would visit. He picked up the small plant of wheat grass off the floor and put it on his desk and grabbed his bookbag before sitting down at his desk.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_I’m cold. Why is it cold?_

Sometime during the night Lance had fallen asleep at his desk.

_Why is the idiot still at his desk? I’m cold damn it!_

The bed creaked as weight shifted around.

_What the hell? Oh shit! It happened again!!_

The growing pain in Lance’s neck and back started to pull him out of his sleep. He groaned as he forced his eyes open, unhappy to find that he fell asleep with the lights on. He sat up in his seat and stretched his back. Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked over. Sitting on his was bed was a boy about his age looking down at his hands and was shockingly stark naked. The familiar sight of the teen that Lance has seen on his route home for the past few weeks instantly made him fall back out of his seat and land on the floor, catching the attention of the mysterious boy.

“I knew it.” Lance mumbled as they stared at each other.


	2. Chapter 2

_I’m cold. Why is it cold?_

Sometime during the night Lance had fallen asleep at his desk.

_Why is the idiot still at his desk? I’m cold damn it!_

The bed creaked as weight shifted around.

_What the hell? Oh shit! It happened again!!_

The growing pain in Lance’s neck and back started to pull him out of his sleep. He groaned as he forced his eyes open, unhappy to find that he fell asleep with the lights on. He sat up in his seat and stretched his back. Something in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he looked over. Sitting on his was bed was a boy about his age looking down at his hands and was shockingly stark naked. The familiar sight of the teen that Lance has seen on his route home for the past few weeks instantly made him fall back out of his seat and land on the floor, catching the attention of the mysterious boy.

“I knew it.” Lance mumbled as they stared at each other.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_What’s taking him so long? It’s almost 4:30._

Keith flipped through a comic magazine that he picked up at the street corner convenient shop he was standing at, using it as a cover. Every now and then he would glance down the street, hoping to see a certain teenage boy that’s been taking care of him for the past month.

Keith was part of the common family of werecats and has finally found a way to use his house cat appearance to his advantage since he broke out of the lab he was born in. Being on his own in the real world with no identification, no paperwork, and a basic education, life has been hard for the teen. Luckily, he was able found a job that would pay him under the table, feed him now and then, and let him stay in the building’s upstairs apartment, but it really wasn’t much – especially with winter coming. Keith hated the cold weather, his breed wasn’t one built for it. Even when taping plastic on his apartment’s windows and sleeping as a cat under his clothes and blanket, it still wasn’t warm enough.

That was when he remembered the time he was so desperate for food that he would change into a cat to run around the town to find food. That one house was warm and the boy, Lance he later found out, was always nice to him when he caught Keith spying nearby. Lance soon started to leave food out for him in the alley by his room. Then he would welcome Keith into his room and even let him sleep when he felt it was too cold.

And now here he is. Standing at a convenient shop, waiting for Lance to walk by so he can follow him to his house and get fed and be warm. He occasionally thought that what he was doing was weird, but it was better than risk sitting at Lance’s window all day and be spotted by the mangy street cats that thought they owned the alley.

Keith could hear people speaking down the usually quiet street and glanced over. At the end of the street were two familiar figures he would see walking with Lance talking to someone in an alley way.

_Is he hiding?_

Keith continued to look down at the comic in his hands, looking over at Lance’s friends whenever he would hear someone yell.

“Nugget! Please! Let me finish!” A familiar voice yelled out from the group. Lance was there and hiding in the alley for some reason. Or maybe he was standing behind there just to stand there? Over the course of time Keith learned that Lance was a weird one and just reached the point of brushing off everything he did.

Keith put the comic magazine back where he found it.

“You’re not going to buy it?” The shop keeper asked Keith, a hint of irritation in his voice from not making a sale.

“I thought it was a new addition, but I was wrong.” Keith explained. “How much for a soda?”

“$1.50.”

“Ok, I’ll take one.” Keith said as he dug two dollars out of his pocket.

The clerk took his money and handed him his drink and Keith went on his way while Lance and his friends were still distracted.

Keith walked through the maze of alley ways to Lance’s house, his stomach cramping and growling more and more on his way.

_That old man needs to learn to feed people better. Who thinks a plate of fries is a meal?!_

When he finally reached the alley to Lance’s window, Keith peeked into his bedroom to see if his food source was home or not. The room was dark and empty, with no sign of Lance’s bookbag in the room. He then quickly went to work with preparing for the night as he set his small duffle bag on the ground near some discarded boxes. He unzipped the bag and took off his red jacket and his shoes before stuffing them in the bag. He then sat down and started to focus on changing his form.

Transforming was never easy for Keith to handle. When he was stressed he could do it easily so he could get away from the situation, but at times like now when he wanted to shift just to shift, it always took him longer and a lot of concentration. This was a common thing for the house cat breed. But for Keith it was different. Every newborn of werecat would learn about their abilities from their parents, but in the labs, you are raised by scientist that poke and prod at you instead. Everything Keith knows about his abilities is what he learned from what the scientist and the other kids told him.

When Keith broke out of his stern concentration and opened his eyes, he found that his transformation worked and jumped out of his clothes. Cleaning up now was hard but doable in his cat form. He pulled over his clothes one by one to his bag and once it was all tucked in, he bit at the zipper and closed the bag and hid it away from any of the wondering alley cat inside a box. He jumped up on the boxes and trashcans to reach the window and peeked into the room. Still empty. He sat back on the trashcan and waited.

_What the hell? Hurry up you idiot, I’m hungry!_

The scent in the air began to change. Keith looked behind him and saw a group of familiar felines heading towards the alley.

_Damn it! Not these animals!_

Keith started to pace around the trashcan he was standing on, trying to find a place to hide. Then a light turned on near him, signaling him toward safety. Lance was finally in his room but the window wasn’t opened yet.

 _“Come on idiot! Open the damn window before I get beaten up again!”_ Keith called out, but it only came out in distressed meows because of his new form.

Keith looked behind him and saw that the group were coming closer to him, a few of them growling at him now. He growled back, trying to stand his ground as much as he could. Keith could fight, but not as well or as nasty as purebred tomcats. Another thing the lab kept him from knowing.

Keith then heard Lance’s window slide open and he instantly ran to jump through it. Jumping through the window was like entering a new world. One that was safe and most importantly to Keith, it was warm. Lance closed the window right away to keep the cold out. Once his paws hit the floor, Keith instantly sat down and started to groom himself to the smell of the tomcats off him.

“Sorry bud, it took me a bit longer to get back home today. I hope you weren’t waiting long.”

Keith paused from grooming himself and looked back at Lance. _Not at all. It’s not like I almost got my ass kicked again or anything._

“I bet you’re hungry.” Lance continued as he went over to sit by his bookbag.

Keith finished his grooming as Lance pull out a pet store bag and then dig through that, completely ignoring his ramblings about his day. He then stretched out his front legs and yawned – being hungry always made him angry and tired. He looked at the small potted wheat grass that Lance pulled out his bag and walked up to it.

 _He understands cats are carnivores, right? I know he’s stupid, but is he really that stupid?_ Keith thought to himself as he sniffed at the wheat grass, instantly disagreeing with Lance’s suggestion of eating it.

Lance laughed at Keith’s response to the grass. “Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t like it at first. You’re really picky with what you eat. Let me go drain this and I’ll feed you.”

Once alone, Keith looked around the room and soon zeroed in on Lance’s desk when he heard low toned meowing outside the window. He jumped on top of the desk and walked to the edge and leaned over to look out the window. Outside in the alley Keith could see the small group of dirty alley cats sniffing around the area and jumping up on some of the boxes and trashcans that he climbed on earlier. One stray began to sniff at his bag that was hidden away.

 _Get away from that! I don’t need fleas again!_ Keith growled as he stared down at the stray.

“Are you already wanting out?” Lance called out, making Keith pull away from the window and hurry over to Lance’s bed so he could eat. “Ok, sorry I asked. Here’s your food.” Lance said as he placed the small can of tuna on the bed before sitting down next to it.

Keith sniffed at the can of tuna before eating. Even though he really wasn’t a big fan of tuna, he figured it was better than starving or eating grass.

“You know, I had a suspicion that you were a werecat for the past couple of weeks now.” Lance spoke out.

 _What?!_ Keith froze for a moment, taking in the possibility that he was found out even though he tried his hardest to cover his tracks.

“But then I talked about it with my friends and can see how that would be a crazy thing to think.” Lance finished out, quickly calming Keith’s worries.

Keith went back to eating his food, letting Lance ramble on. Lance usually talked a lot whenever Keith would visit and he eventually just learned to tune him out and let him talk. Lance eventually reached out and started to scratch his head, another thing Keith would let him do even though he thought it was a bit degrading. But then Lance’s hand moved to his ears, that was the line. Keith let out a low growl from his throat, warning Lance to stop. He never liked having his ears touch, especially his cat ears. The feeling was foreign to him and he just didn’t like it.

“Sorry, forgot that you don’t like your ears touched,” Lance said as he backed off and took his hand off Keith all together, letting him finish his food in peace.

Now with a full stomach, Keith’s previous tired feeling took over and all he wanted now was to be warm so he could sleep. _The blankets are too cold._ He thought to himself as he looked the bed over, unable to find a place to sleep. He would usually crawl under Lance’s blankets and fall asleep, but today was one of the rare days that Lance made his bed that morning and getting under the covers would be harder to do. He then looked over at Lance. _I already let him pet me so might as well._ Keith then climbed on Lance’s lap and began to knead at one of his legs before curling up. All he could really remember before falling asleep was Lance scratching his back and rambling on about him being his family’s house cat.

_Like that would ever happen._

**..::::..::::..::::..**

“I was right,” Lance said as he stared at Keith. “I was right,” Lance repeated with a slight chuckle in his voice. “I was right.” Lance then started to laugh more with his realization. Keith just looked at him in complete confusion.

_Did he snap or something?_

Lance’s laughing grew louder and louder as he continued to ramble on. “I was right. I was totally right. You’re a werecat. I knew it! I was freaking right! Wait till I tell the guys! They’re going to be so surprise that I was right about this.”

_Shit!_

Keith quickly jumped from the bed and tackled Lance to cover his mouth before he got any louder. “Shut up before you wake someone!” He snapped in a hushed tone as he pinned Lance to the floor. The two stared at each other for a bit. Lance then broke their eye contact to look down between them and his face started to turn a slight red. Keith looked down at Lance confused and then looked down himself and quickly jumped off and backed into the bed, grabbing the blanket off it and dragging it down to cover himself. “Don’t you dare say a word to anyone about this!”

“But I was right! Oh! By the way, the name’s Lance.” Lance said with his thousand watts smile as he pushed himself up to sit on the floor.

“I know. I’ve heard your mother scream it about a hundred times.” Keith said, unamused and a bit confused with the introduction. “How were you even able to suspect I was a werecat to begin with?”

Lance’s smile fell as he raised an eyebrow. “Really? You left my window open one morning.”

“I thought you would be too stupid to even notice you didn’t leave it open.” Keith was bit surprised that Lance caught onto such a tiny detail. But then again, that was a morning when he first turned human in his sleep and needed out right away before Lance woke up.

Lance frowned. “Did you know that you’re a lot nicer as a cat?”

“I wasn’t being nice. I was trying to stay warm and fed.” Survival was always number one of Keith’s mind. “You seem a lot calmer than other people would be in this situation.”

“Well, I do have a ton of siblings,” Lance said with a shrug. “Had to share a room and a bath a few times.” He then started to get up. “Anyway, what’s your name? Unless you just want me to keep calling you bud.”

“None of your business!” Keith snapped. “Just forget this ever happened! I was never here.”

“But you are here. Sitting in my room. Naked.” Lance smiled.

“Just shut up,” Keith snapped again, growing more frustrated with the situation.

“You want to borrow some pants? Or at least some underwear?”

“There’s a bag in the alley.” Keith said without really thinking.

“What,” Lance asked confused and seriously wondering what he meant.

 _Shit!_ Keith always had a bad habit of just blurting out the truth when he was frustrated. “My clothes are in a bag in the alley.” Keith was already feeling low, might as well come clean on the charade and feel even lower.

“You have clothes in the alley?” Lance asked, making sure what he heard was correct.

“Yes! Alright?! Can you just get them and quit asking questions?”

“Hold up!” Lance commanded as he held a finger up at Keith. “I think I deserve to understand what all is going on here. So, from what I can tell, you’ve been coming here to mooch off me and my kindness, and then just get dressed outside and up and leave like I’m some embarrassing one-night-stand?”

“Can I just have my clothes so I can leave?” Keith asked, his frustration boiling over to exhaustion.

“No, you cannot! Because Lance McClain is not some pushover that you can up and leave on!”

 _Out of all the people in this town, why did I stick to someone like him?_ Keith rubbed at the growing headache forming at the front of his head. “It’s amazing how you didn’t think like that when I was a cat, but now that I’m human, you think I’m committing a crime,” Keith said in a calm tone. With Lance still raising his voice now and then, Keith thought he might as well try to stay calm so that no one in the house would wake up and find them. “Now, can you please get my clothes for me before you wake someone up and the situation gets worse?”

Lance looked down at Keith from where he stood, still fuming over the fact that he was being used this whole time. But he soon realized that Keith had a point about making the situation worse and decided to let it go and calm down. “On one condition.” If Lance was going to be used again, he was at least going to get something out of it. “Tell me your name.”

“Excuse me?”

“Tell me your name and I’ll get your bag out of the alley.”

“Really? No money for you to stay quiet? No questions about what I am?” The request was a bit confusing and even though it was really a bad one, it still made Keith uncomfortable.

“If you’re coming here for food and shelter, I doubt you have enough money to pay for my silence and we already learn a lot about werecats in school so I don’t really have questions.”

“So, just my name?”

“Tell me your name and I’ll get your bag,” Lance reaffirmed.

“Keith.”

“Keith what,” Lance asked, hoping to get more out of his guest.

“Just Keith,” Keith replied, refusing to give him anymore.

Lance slouched his shoulders and pouted for a bit. “Fine. I’ll get your bag.” He then gave up, accepting his answer and keeping his promise.

Lance walked over to his window and pushed it open, the cold night air smacking him the face. He looked out into the alley and saw a few alley cats sleeping in the boxes that were discarded with the trash. He climbed out of his room through the window, stepping down on a conveniently placed milk crate that was under his window. He walked through the alley and looked around the junk that gathered between his and his neighbor’s home. Lance soon found a small black duffle bag that was tucked away inside a box that had a stray sleeping on top of it. He grabbed the bag and gently pulled it out from under the cat, causing it to wake up some but it was too tired to care about what Lance was doing.

Now with the bag, Lance made his way back to his window and stepped up on the milk crate. “Here you go,” he said as he threw the bag in his room.

“It stinks.” Keith called out from the room.

“Well, you had it hidden with trash and a cat was sleeping on it so what do you think it’ll smell like? Roses?” Lance said as he climbed back in his room, eventually rolling in head first. Lance rubbed his sore head as he sat up, quickly noticing that the bag was still where he threw it. He looked over at his bed and saw that Keith was still sitting there, now wrapped up in the blanket he pulled off the bed, just the top of his head and his eyes being visible. “Aren’t you going to get dressed?”

“Close the window first!” Keith snapped from under the blanket. Lance looked at him confused but soon complied and got up from the floor and closed the window, blocking out the cold. Keith lowered the covers from his face and looked at Lance. “Leave so I can get dressed.”

“Why? I’ve already seen all of you.” Lance said with a smirk, feeling a little proud about what he said.

“Just leave!” Keith snapped. If he was going to leave, he was going to leave with what little dignity he had left.

“Ok fine I’ll go,” Lance said in defense as he started for the door. “Just let me know when you’re done.” He then walked out of his room, closing the door as quietly as he could so he wouldn’t wake anyone up. Right then, all that had just happened hit Lance at once and made him slide to the floor.

_He’s a werecat! He’s been following me home and intentionally coming over here! He was naked on my bed! He tackled me naked! I told him so much when he was a cat! I called him cute! I slept with him!_

So many realizations were running through Lance’s head that they all started to make him feel dizzy. How will he be able to handle himself if he saw Keith on the street now? Will Keith continue to come over to be fed? Is his life so tough that he might starve now if he stops coming over? Did he have a place to sleep tonight? What if Lance’s room has been his only safe place to sleep for the past few months? With the questions running through Lance’s head, he decided that he couldn’t just let Keith leave without knowing what will happen to him if he did. He had a sleeping bag in his closet that Keith could use that night. And he could just play it off to his parents that he was a friend that spent the night so he can eat breakfast with them in the morning. His parents were understanding people and Hunk would sometimes come over unannounced and stay the night.

Lance got up off the floor and took a deep breath before lightly knocked on his bedroom door. “Hey, are you done?” The room was silent. “I know you’re probably still upset about everything, but if you want you can still stay the night.” The room was still silent. “Hey, did you hear me?” Lance started to open the door, “I said you could stay the night if you wanted to.”

The room was empty and the window was left wide open.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry for being late. I wanted to finish and post this yesterday, but I had a photo shoot to do they wanted preview photos that day to post online and then Aunt Flow decided to punch me where it hurt. But anyway, it's done and there' probably a lot of errors but I hope you enjoy.

Lance got up off the floor and took a deep breath before he lightly knocked on his bedroom door. "Hey, are you done?" The room was silent. "I know you're probably still upset about everything, but if you want you can still stay the night." The room was still silent. "Hey, did you hear me?" Lance started to open the door, "I said you could stay the night if you wanted to."

The room was empty and the window was left wide open.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_He left. How could he just leave?_

"Hey Lance."

_Why would he just leave? It wasn't like I was going to tell anyone about what happened._

"Lance."

_I was nice. I kept him fed. Gave him a place to sleep. Heck, I was even going to offer him to stay!_

"Lance!"

_I wonder if he's doing ok. Maybe I'll run into him when he's human? But he might just run away again._

"Lance come back to Earth will you!" Hunk practically yelled as he snapped his fingers in front of Lance's face.

"How could he just leave?" Lance mumbled to himself as he stayed in his own little world.

"Uh, who left?" Hunk asked, seriously confused about what his friend was thinking about, or who he was thinking about.

Lance finally came out of his head when Hunk's question interrupted the one question he kept repeating to himself. "What?"

"You said, 'How could he just leave?'" Hunk repeated. "You've been out of it most of the week man. Did something happen that you're not telling me about?" Hunk asked, feeling a little hurt that Lance was keeping secrets from him. They've been friends since their daycare days and something like that has never happened.

"Uh, well," Lance started thinking of how he should handle the conversation.  _I can't lie to Hunk. He's my best friend. But then again, Keith looked really serious about not wanting anyone to know what happened. And if he's found out, who knows what will happen to him._

"Well what?" Hunk asked, wanting to know what was wrong.

"Well," Lance thought more of what to do. He looked around the room and was reminded that they were still in class in the middle of study hall. "Well, the thing is, I met up with a Tinder guy over the weekend." In his current situation, lying seemed to be Lance's only answer. "And I thought we hit off really well but then he just up and left after getting a phone call. That's all."

Hunk frowned, not sure if that was the truth or not but still willing to take it. "Really? He didn't give you any reason why he had to go?"

"No, all he said when he came back was that he had to go. I'm pretty sure it was his girlfriend or something. He seemed nervous about being out with a guy. But oh well, dodged a bullet there I guess." Lance shrugged, a little proud that his story was believable but still upset that it was a lie.

"You really did. You need someone who wants to be around you and not have you as a side piece or experiment." Hunk said as he agreed with his friend. "But maybe this will cheer you up." Hunk turned around in his seat and grabbed his phone off his desk. "Allura posted in the group chat and asked if we wanted to go to some snack shack by the beach. Pidge already said that she was down and now they're just waiting on us."

Lance thought about it. Although his crush for Allura faded away with time, the sight of her always cheered him up. And hopefully spending time with her would get his mind off a certain stray. "Yeah, let's go!"

"Awesome!" Hunk quickly texted his reply.

* * *

 **Me:**  Lance and I are down! Where do you want to meet?

 **Katie (Pidge):**  He's not going to be moody the whole time, is he? (;¬_¬)

 **Me:**  No, he's better now. Turns out a jerk hurt his feelings over the weekend.

 **Allura:**  Don't tell me it was another Tinder date… And we can meet in front of the gym and walk there.

 **Me:**  Yeah it was. Hopefully he'll learn to stop using apps to find dates soon.

 **Katie (Pidge):**  Coran's not driving? Yay I get to keep my lunch! ＼（＾▽＾）／

 **Lance:**  HEY! I'M IN HERE TOO REMEMBER! QUIT TALKING ABOUT ME! ESPECIALLY YOU HUNK! YOU'RE RIGHT NEXT TO ME! DX

* * *

Hunk looked up at Lance, who was staring at him with daggers in his eyes. "Sorry," Hunk smiled.

Lance looked back at his phone and scrolled up in the group chat to see what else he missed. "Yeah right," Lance pouted.

* * *

 **Me:**  HEY! I'M IN HERE TOO REMEMBER! QUIT TALKING ABOUT ME! ESPECIALLY YOU HUNK! YOU'RE RIGHT NEXT TO ME! DX

 **Me:**  I need new friends!

 **Nugget:**  Quit being such a baby. (e_e)

 **Princess**   **:**  Sorry about your date Lance. Whatever you get is on me!

 **Me:**  You're the only one that loves me! ^3^

* * *

**..::::..::::..::::..**

"It should be at the end of this street." Allura said as she continued to lead her friends down the seawall path toward the small, beaten-up pier that overlooked the equally small, beaten-up beach.

"How did you find out about this place again?" Pidge asked as she looked around the area.

The group of friends have walked across the seawall before to look at the coast, but they've been on this side of town. Not many people came this far down the coast because of how cold and isolated the atmosphere was. All the buildings in the area were further apart than they were in town and they were worn down due to the salty air and age of the structures. But the area did have its interesting side. Even though the isolation was something unusual, some did find it comforting when they wanted somewhere to run to when the brighter side of town became too much. In the distance, there were some people on the small beach and walking around the pier enjoying the escape that the area provided.

"Coran told me about it. He said he just found on a whim when he was running errands and hit it off with the owner. The shack isn't really something to fawn over, but it's a nice break from our usual spots and the food they have is ok." Allura explained as she continued down the path.

"Something new is nice Allura, but I don't think the weather is a good setting for it." Lance said as he stared up at the gray sky. A setting that the area always seemed to have over it. "Isn't it supposed to rain today?"

"Not till tonight I think," Hunk said as he pulled out his phone to check. "And it's only a 20% chance. I think you'll be fine."

"If it rains we're staying over at Pidge's!" Lance announced as he started to pick up his pace so he could walk by Allura.

"Why me?!"

"Because your house is closer."

"That doesn't mean you can just invite yourself over!" Pidge complained.

"Calm down you two," Allura started, "Rain or shine, how about we all stay at my place tonight? We don't have school tomorrow and it'll be fun."

"Yes! Party at Allura's!" Pidge cheered, the mood lightening right away.

Once the group of teens reached the pier, Allura had alerted them that the shack was just down the small hill on the other side of the seawall lined with all the other buildings. The building was just like the others that were around it, a worn-out, dulled colored, two story building that was converted to a beachside shop. The single entrance door and the two front windows were propped open despite it being slightly cold outside. The smell coming from the shack was a usual smell you sense from a place that cooked a lot of fattening foods. The inside of the snack wasn't that special either. The colors looked as if they had a brighter past, but time had dulled them out and the walls were dotted with the usual coastal themed decorations. The room was as open as the structure would allow, with some support beams and the tables making the room feel like a maze. There was a bar at the back of the room where one could sit and possibly talk to the cook and on either side were doors that led to employees only areas.

"Let get that table by the window," Allura suggested as she walked through the hectic floor plan.

The group of friends looked a bit out of place compared to the few customers in the shop that were either by themselves or with just one other person. After they had all sat down, the cook behind the bar soon noticed the abnormally large group in his shop. "Hey kid, get out here and work," he yelled to the back room through a small window in the wall. The group shared the single menu that was left at the table. The menu was simple with the usual burgers, hot dogs, fries, milkshakes, and a list of a few seafood dishes organized by season.

"Are you all ready?" The waiter asked once he walked up to the table.

Everyone ordered what they thought would be decent; Pidge got a large plate of fries with a soda, Hunk a cheeseburger with fries, and Allura a milkshake.

"Lance what are you getting?" Hunk asked as he bumped Lance's shoulder.

Lance was a bit out of it, he was more interested in watching the ocean across the street than looking at the menu. He scanned it over, not really trusting the food based on the atmosphere. "I'll just have a shake," Lance said as he looked up at the waiter. He nearly fell back out of his seat from the shock when he finally noticed who he was talking to. There, standing at the head of the table writing on his notepad, was the same guy that's been on Lance's mind for the last couple of days.

Keith looked just as unremarkable the snack shack in his jeans and black t-shirt. But this time he had his hair pulled back in a small ponytail, and it gave him a sort of calming yet serious look. This was a complete turnaround compared to how Lance saw him last – naked and his hair a mess.

Just as quickly as Lance noticed that Keith was taking the orders, he was already walking back to the bar. Giving no sign that he had noticed Lance at the table.

 _Did he ignore me? Did he even see me?!_  Lance thought to himself, his questions quickly pushing him to demand for answers. He quickly excused himself from the table, interrupting the conversation that he didn't notice his friends were having, and quickly followed Keith to the bar. Keith was busy at work, quickly passing off his orders to his boss at the grill and then walking to the side to start on the drinks.

"Hey," Lance said in a hushed tone as he huddled over the bar, trying to keep their conversation quiet and discreet.

"Go away." Keith said sternly as he topped off both Pidge and Hunk's drinks.

Lance smiled. "So you did notice me."

Keith cut his eyes up at Lance and then looked back down at the bar as his moved the drinks over to a small tray. "I'm working, go away." Keith was starting to get irritated with Lance's pestering.

Lance watched Keith get the ingredients for his and Allura's milkshakes together. "How have you been," he tried asking, really wanting him to answer at least some of his questions that's been bugging him since that night. Keith didn't reply. "You just left and then never came back so I've been a bit worried." Keith continued to stay quiet. "I haven't told anyone you know." Keith was still quiet. "I won't tell anyone if that's what's bugging you. You can actually trust me with what happened." Keith was still quiet as he turned on the blender. Lance waited for the blender to finish before speaking again. If Keith was going to stay silent, he can stay silent. But Lance was still going to talk. "You said you came over to be fed and get warm, right? Well," Lance grabbed a napkin and pen from behind the bar, "if you want to come over again just let me know. You can come by however you want." Lance held out the napkin as Keith finished pouring the milkshakes into Styrofoam cups.

Keith looked at the napkin and notice that it had a phone number on it. He then looked at Lance, his face showing his natural angry resting look. He then snatched the napkin out of Lance's hand and threw it in the small trashcan behind the bar. "I told you to forget what happened. I'm not a charity case. I don't need to be pitied. Leave me alone." Keith said calmly and quietly and he stared at Lance. He then put the milkshakes with the other drinks on the tray and picked them up and walked past Lance and toward the table.

_Fucking jerk!_

**..::::..::::..::::..**

"Winner! Player 1!" The television cheered as it flashed its announcement across the screen.

"What the heck Lance?! What did I do to deserve this?" Hunk complained after being virtually beaten to a pulp for the fourth time in a row.

Lance was playing as if he were out for real blood and nothing in the world was going to stop him. During all four matches, he just stared angrily at the screen with dead eyes and mumbled curses under his breath.

The teens were all sitting in the spacious entertainment room of Allura's home. She lived on what the locals knew as the 'nicer' side of town where the houses were renovated manors and newly built modern homes. Allura never really waved her family's good fortune around since she was raised to not really rely on it, it was one of the main reasons why she chose to attend the public school in town instead of a private school in the city or having a tutor come teach her instead like she had as a kid. Her father was almost always away overseas on business trips, so most of the time it would be just her and her childhood nanny turned adopted uncle Coran in the spacious home. Which made nights like these with her friends staying over more precious to her.

"Isn't it obvious," Pidge called from the couch, "He's mad because the waiter at the shack turned him down."

"Wait, when did that happen?" Allura asked as she looked down at Pidge, who was leaning against her instead of a couch cushion.

"After the guy took our order. Lance went over to the bar to hit on him, even gave him his number. But the guy wasn't interested and now Lance is taking his anger out on the video game." Pidge then paused from her computer work and looked over at the group. "Where were you guys during all this?"

Hunk looked at her confused and amazed. "I swear, you're not human Pidge."

"Yeah I know. Matt says that I'm more like a robot most of the time." She said as she went back to her computer.

"Well, getting my butt beat made me thirsty." Hunk said as he got up from the floor. "Lance why don't you fight the computer-," he then stopped midsentence and saw that Lance was already doing what he was going to suggest. "Never mind." He then walked out of the room to head for the kitchen.

Allura watched Lance for a bit, worrying about his mood more as he became ruthless in his virtual attacks. "We really need to find him someone so these mood swings will end." She spoke out, sure that Lance was too far gone to really know what was going on.

"The problem is who to find," Pidge said as she continued to type. "It needs to be someone who doesn't go to our school, everyone's already used to him there. Girls fall for him easily, but he likes the brainy types and they don't like him because his flirting style is a turnoff. But, you already know that."

"Yep," Allura confirmed, remembering what happened when she first met Lance and had to deal with his loverboy persona.

"And guys for him are a bit hard to find around here. He's not interested in any of the guys at school and every guy he talks to outside of school either turns him down right away, or lead him on to experiment. If you ask me, he needs to go out of the town if he wants to find someone and be happy."

"You know he's not going to leave town. He loves his family too much." Allura closed her book and threw it on the floor before leaning back against the couch cushion, making Pidge readjust her positioning against her.

"So, he needs someone who's smart, understands their own sexuality, and likes big families. We can probably find a two-out-of-three here with some time."

"Maybe," Allura shrugged. She then looked over at Pidge's computer screen. "What are you doing by the way?"

"Talking to friends on the dark web."

"You're not doing anything that would make the cops come here, are you?"

"One time Allura, you really need to let that go. And no, we're just talking about stuff and one of them is sending me high resolution photos of Jupiter that NASA just took."

"Are you sure they're not just trying to hack you?"

"If they were, they would be regretting it right now." Pidge responded, hinting at just how powerful her security system was.

"Hey Allura, can I ask you something," Hunk called out as he walked back into the room.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well I just noticed this when I was walking to the kitchen, but how come all your family pictures don't show you as a kid?" Hunk then heard what he had said and panicked. "I mean it's cool if that's just what you and your dad do! He might just like to keep those pictures private! I just wanted to ask."

Allura laughed at Hunk's worry, finding it sweet that he cared about not wanting to offend her or her father. "It's ok Hunk. Daddy just likes certain photos of us to be out and some to be kept in. He may seem like a tough guy, but he keeps all my baby pictures in his wallet and in a little album her carries around when he travels. It's all a front he does just because he thinks it's what he has to do to be taken seriously when work buddies come over."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Hunk nodded. "I guess I just keep forgetting that your life is different from what we're all used to. The business world seems brutal if you have to decorate your house a certain way to be taken seriously."

Allura shrugged. "It's really no big deal. I'm used to it and daddy treats it like a game and has some fun with it."

"Whoa! Guys check this out!" Pidge announced as she shot up from her relaxed position against Allura's shoulder. Hunk and Allura crowded around Pidge's computer to see what the fuss was about. "One of my black hat friends just sent me an old surveillance video of a werecat escaping a lab."

"Wait seriously?" Hunk asked as he huddled closer to couch to get a better look at the screen.

"Why did they send you that?" Allura asked she looked over Pidge's shoulder.

"I was talking to them about how we talked about werecats this week in bio class and I wondered what it looked like when they transformed. And then they sent me this, turns out it was leaked on the dark web a few years ago by a group that tries to get labs shut down and werecats freed." Pidge typed what she needed to quickly scan the video to be safe, and then a black and white night-vision video expanded on her screen.

In the video, someone could be seen walking along a gate. They looked tall, but skinny. The person then knelt down by the gate, seeming to inspect for something, and then fully sat on the ground. "What are they doing?" Pidge asked as she leaned in closer to the screen. Right away, the figure began to look as if they were melting until there was just a pile of their clothes covering a small mound. The mound soon crawled out from under the clothes and a light colored cat went to the gate, crawling under what seemed to be a hole in the gate.

"Whoa! Did you see that?!" Pidge asked excitedly, not really sure if she should believe what she just saw.

"That was so cool!" Hunk commented, in awe over the video. "For some reason, I always thought it would be more magical or painful looking, like what you see on TV."

"Where was that at?" Allura asked, wanting to learn more about the video.

"Hold on, let me ask." Pidge exited the video and went back to typing to the source.

Over by the television, Lance was in the middle of winning his third game against the game's computer system. Once the screen announced his victory, his phone vibrated in his pocket, alerting him that he had a new text message. Lance glanced at the time on the cable box.  _It's too late to be mamá or pops._  He then looked over his shoulder. Seeing that everyone was busy with something, Lance dug through his jacket pocket for his phone.

* * *

 **Unknown Number:**  You weren't home. We need to talk. -Keith

* * *

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know I said I would do weekly updates, but my school keeps canceling classes because of the weather where I live and I already have all my homework finished. Anyway, here's Keith's day!! I really hope y'all are really enjoying this as much as I am writing it.

Over by the television, Lance was in the middle of winning his third game against the game’s computer system. Once the screen announced his victory, his phone vibrated in his pocket, alerting him that he had a new text message. Lance glanced at the time on the cable box. _It’s too late to be mamá or pops._ He then looked over his shoulder. Seeing that everyone was busy with something, Lance dug through his jacket pocket for his phone.  

* * *

 **Unknown Number:** You weren’t home. We need to talk. -Keith

* * *

**...::::..::::..::::..**

_Cold._

Keith peeked out from under his covers. He squinted his eyes when the light from the rising sun peeking through the plastic on his apartment windows hit his face. He then fully crawled out from under his covers and stretched out his legs and back. He sat down on his bed and scratched at his ear before grooming himself.

Down below he could hear a door slam and soon after, someone was banging at his floor from the lower level. “Wake up kid! We open in two hours and you need to get down here and clean. You better hurry or you won’t get any breakfast!”

_Yeah, I know._

He then sat still on his bed and concentrated for a bit. Once he opened his eyes, the cold of the room hit his body like knives. “Yeah, I’m up! I’ll be down in a minute!” Keith yelled back as he raised his arms and stretched his back. He flinched as his foot touched the cold hardwood, but he pushed through and got ready for the day.

Keith’s one room apartment was just that. A one room apartment. There were two doors on either side of the room, one leading down stairs to the shop below and the other being the main entrance that lead to a staircase outside. He had a twin-size bed in one corner with a night stand next to it. There was a small table over by the half kitchen in the corner across from the bed with only one chair tucked underneath. There was another door across from the kitchen that led to a bathroom that just contained the bare minimum to make the space livable and next to it in a corner was a standard size dresser. The windows in the room over looked the beach from across the street, but the view wasn’t much since the sky always looked gloomy this time of year. Then again, Keith couldn’t fully see the view since putting plastic up on his window to block out the cold air.

Keith quickly went through his morning routine and put on a pair of jeans, a black t-shirt, and his usual pair of sneakers. He grabbed his red jacket off the back of the chair at his kitchen table before walking down stairs to the shop. The shop wasn’t much to look at, just like his upstairs apartment. After Keith walked through the door at the end of the tunnel of stairs he was met with a dull, sad nautical themed restaurant that was clearly just getting by. He turned to walk behind the bar and grabbed a broom to start his opening chores.

“About time. I was starting to wonder if you were ever coming down.” The owner of the shop said from the grill. The smell of sausage and eggs filled the area around him.

“Sorry, had a hard time finding something clean to wear.” Keith lied. He just didn’t hurry because he knows it doesn’t take him two hours to open the shop like it did his boss before he started working there.

“Whatever. Dirty or not, it’ll still smell like fish at the end of the day with the sea-salts we get in here.” The owner said, not really caring for Keith’s excuse. “Hurry and finish so I can feed you. Mother found out that I forgot some of your lunches at home and got mad at me when they turned out to be bad.” Even though the owner seemed tough around the edges, he did care enough about Keith to give him a place to stay and work, but his wife cared a bit more. His boss would always complain about how his wife would always scold him about not feeding Keith enough. Keith did agree with her on that, but werecat naturally ate more than humans to replace the energy lost when shifting. But he couldn’t say that, it would give himself away and he probably would end up back at a lab, so he ate whatever his boss thought was enough. “Oh, and here’s your allowance,” the owner said as he reached in his pocket and pulled out a $20 bill and put it on the bar for Keith. “I still don’t understand why she insist on giving it to you. I already pay and feed you and you don’t go out like a normal kid your age so I don’t know what you’ll do with it.”

“Don’t know, but thanks.” Keith mumbled as he continued to sweep the floor of the shop. His boss did have a point, Keith didn’t really go out and only used a fraction of his allowance and pay for a small amount of groceries. But he did have a plan for the left-over money. After moving in, Keith knew that he couldn’t live above the shop forever. He’s still missing the important stuff he would need to be treated like a normal person and live a normal life on the outside. Keith still needed to get the proper forms of identification before he could even think about moving to a new place or a new town and the only way to do that was to pay for it.

“Well, over the years, I’ve just learned to just shut my mouth and let her do what she wants. With the kids and grandkids having their own lives, she’s probably just happy to have someone she can spoil, whether I like it or not.”

_So, the old man actually has kids. Didn’t know that._

Keith finished sweeping up the shop and then went to take the chairs off the tables after picking up his allowance from the bar. The morning just continued quietly. Keith finished setting up the shop, ate what he thought was a small breakfast with his boss, and then unlocked the door and set up the outside of the shop.

“Hey Keith, Val has you working this early again?” Someone called out from behind Keith as he was writing the day’s seafood special on the blackboard stand.

Keith looked behind him to see a small group of the usual fishermen that would come by the shop in the morning. “Yeah, it’s like this every morning,” Keith responded as he went back to finish writing on the board.

“That old bastard needs to let you be a kid occasionally.” The head of the group said before they walked in.

 _I never was one so why be one now._ Keith thought to himself as he set up the chalkboard. He then walked in and went behind the bar. The men were already seated at the bar and Keith’s boss was cooking their usual breakfast orders on the grill. Keith tied his hair back in a small ponytail before gathering up three coffee mugs. “Black, two shots of milk, and a pack of sugar and a shot of cream, right?” Keith ask as he walked over to the coffee station behind the bar.

“Val, you need to give the kid a raise.” One of the men said, amazed at Keith’s memory with how they all liked their coffee.

“I already pay him and Ellie keeps giving him an allowance. He’s good.” Val responded as he continued cooking.

“Ok, then give him a day off.”

“Yeah Val. The closest he gets to a day off is when its slow and you close early.”

“He doesn’t need a day off.” Val responded, getting a little annoyed with his customers’ badgering. “Keith working here is how he’s paying rent. Besides, he doesn’t mind it. Do you kid?”

“Not at all.” Keith said as he finished making the coffees and brought them over to the guest.

“See, he’s fine. Now leave him alone or you jackasses aren’t getting food.” Val said, ending the conversation.

The fishermen decided to leave the conversation there, all three of them still finding it funny to pick on Val’s nerves. The morning continued with Val talking to the three men about how their business on the water was going and Keith just staying out of the way and keeping himself busy. The shop was always slow, with most of the customers being the local sea-salts on that side of town and the older population of the town that would stop by during their morning walks. It would sometimes get a different clientele in the afternoons, but it was usually just people who were wondering by or curious about what was inside the building. Keith and his boss had a system that they kept to everyday. Keith would clean and take the orders in the dining area and handle all the drinks while Val would only worry about his loyal customers at the bar and the grill. It was an unfair balance of work, but it was one that Keith agreed to and didn’t mind doing.

“Hey kid, get out here and work,” Val yelled out through the small window in the wall between the shop and back room.

Keith was in the back washing a few dishes that were left by his last group of customers. He looked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was already the afternoon; random stragglers were starting to come in. “Coming,” Keith yelled back as he started to dry his hands. Once he walked out, Keith grabbed his notepad off the edge of the bar and scanned the room for the new patron.

_Shit._

Over at one of the tables by the window was a group of teenagers around Keith’s age, which was a strange thing to have in the shop. But sitting at the table with the small group was the last person Keith wanted to see. Lance was sitting by the window and looked to be uninterested in his friends’ conversation while he looked out at the unimpressive view. Keith tried to keep himself together as he walked over to the table, hoping that Lance wouldn’t notice him and say something.

“Are you all ready?” Keith asked as he walked up to the table, getting his notepad ready. Just like the rest of the customers that Keith would wait on, the first two people to order were just a blur to him as he wrote down their orders.

“I would like to have a milkshake please.” One of the teens said as she read over the menu.

Keith looked up at her and instantly got a chill down his spine. _She smells weird._ Keith thought to himself as he looked at the girl for a moment before writing down her request. He didn’t understand why she gave him a chill, she didn’t look threatening. But he knew it wasn’t a good one and needed to keep his distance.

“Lance what are you getting?” The guy sitting next to Lance asked him as he bumped his shoulder.

Keith kept his head down, hoping that not making eye contact would make Lance notice him less.

“I’ll just have a milkshake.”

Keith then quickly turned away and walked back to the bar before Lance could finish his sentence. _Out of all the places him and his friends could come to, why come all the way out here?_ Keith thought to himself as he walked over to hand Val the order that he just took. He then walked over to his drink station and got to work, thinking that the quicker they were served, the quicker they would leave.

“Hey,” Lance said in a hushed tone.

_Shit!_

“Go away.” Keith said sternly as he topped off the two sodas that were ordered.

“So you did notice me.” Lance said with a slight bounce in his voice.

Keith cut his eyes up at him for a moment, annoyed to see Lance’s smirk. “I’m working, go away.” He warned again, getting irritated with Lance’s pestering.

Keith walked over to the small fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and the tub of ice cream from the freezer. He could feel Lance watch him and he put the ingredients for the milkshakes together in the blender. “How have you been?” _Just fine. Now shut up._ “You just left and then never came back so I’ve been a bit worried.” _Don’t be. I’m not your damn cat. Now shut it!_ “I haven’t told anyone you know.” _Who would believe you if you did?_ Keith then turned on the blender, running it a bit longer than what was needed just to enjoy the moment of Lance’s silence. Keith stopped the blender and then went to grab two cups to pour the milkshake mixture in. “You said you came over to be fed and get warm, right?” _What other reason was there?_ “Well,” Lance then reached behind the bar to grab something, “if you want to come over again, just let me know. You can come by however you want.”

Keith continued to pour the milkshakes into Styrofoam cups before looking at what Lance was holding. He was holding out a napkin that he had picked up from behind the bar and Keith could see a series of numbers written on it. That seemed to really strike a chord in Keith. He looked at Lance before snatching the napkin out of his hand and threw it in the small trashcan behind him. “I told you to forget what happened. I’m not a charity case. I don’t need to be pitied. Leave me alone.” Keith tried his hardest to keep his cool while saying that. For most of his life, he didn’t have one. And even though the one he had now wasn’t perfect, it was his and he was not going to have someone pity him. Even though the old man and his wife took him in out of pity, they were at least making him work for his bed and figure things out on his own. All they were to Keith were his landlords and bosses. They never gave him serious handouts and Keith respected them for that.

After feeling that he made his point across, Keith then grabbed the milkshakes and put them on a small tray with the other drinks and walked around the bar with them. Leaving Lance behind to take in what he said. He dropped off all the drinks at the table and instantly turned to walk back to the bar, Lance bumping his shoulder as they passed each other. _What are you, a child?_ Keith thought to himself as he looked back at Lance before going to the back to finish his dishes.

Keith tried to stay in the back as much as he could while Lance and his friend were in the shop. Luckily, they didn’t need anything after Keith dropped off their two food orders and he was able to just wait on the usual customers he and Val would get each day. “Hey kid, you have empties,” Val called out through the window, telling Keith that one of his tables were empty. He finished washing the few coffee mugs he had in the sink and put them on the rack to dry before walking out. The shop was completely empty at this point, with the only table that needed clearing was the one that Lance and his friends were at. Keith grabbed the dish bin from behind the bar and headed toward the table to clear it. For a table full of teens, it was surprisingly clean. The plates were already stacked for Keith and they even left a tip behind for him. Keith put the dishes that were on the table in the bin and collected the tip, finding a piece of paper with a note written on it under the bills.

_‘You should really give my friend a chance. He’s really a nice guy. At least be friends with him. You look like you need some.’_

Underneath the note was a phone number that looked like the one that Lance wrote earlier. Keith reread the note a couple of times, trying to figure out which of Lance’s friend was watching their conversation earlier and wrote it. He noted that it didn’t smell like the one friend that gave him a chill, so at least that narrowed it down a bit. Keith then decided to give up on the mystery and shoved the money and the note in his pocket with the rest of his tips from the day. He quickly wiped down the table and walked back to the bar to collect any other dishes that he needed to wash.

“I don’t know what happened between you and that guy from earlier, but at least I see that you actually meet people outside of here now and then.” Val called out when Keith got to the bar. He was busy scrubbing the grill top clean, using the moment to his advantage so he could close early.

“He was just an idiot that bugs me. It won’t happen again.” Keith explained as he collected some dishes that were used during the early dinner period.

“I’m not complaining. I know I didn’t show it this morning, but I really do worry about you isolating yourself here. Seeing that happen today was actually refreshing.” Val was a master at hiding his emotions, something he had learned with age, but when he did admit that he was interested in something, that was worth noting. “If you ever want a day off to go and meet people or just get away from here, just let me know. But don’t do it too often,” he said as he pointed the scrub brush at Keith. “I’m old and still need help here. I can’t easily lift those chairs forever.”

“Understood sir.”

“Good.” Val went back to cleaning the grill. “Go ahead and take everything to the back. The guys told me this morning that everyone would be out tonight collecting their traps. Go ahead and lock the door and I’ll count down the till when I’m done.”

Keith nodded his head and started to collect every dish that he usually washed at night that was behind the bar. Closing the shop was just like running it. Keith would wash all the dishes, wipe off the bar and tables, sweep and mob the floor, and make sure everything was stocked while all Val did was clean the grill and count the register and half the tips with Keith. It looked unfair on the surface, but it was manageable for the two and Keith was just fine with it since he always seemed to finish when Val was ready to split the tips. When Keith pulled out the tips he collected form his pocket, he found the note that was left for him mixed in with the money. He found himself reading the note again a few times before putting it back in his pocket before Val could say anything about it. The shop never really received tips before Keith started working there. It started with some of Val’s friends giving Keith a few extra bills as their apology that he was working there. But soon, it became a usual thing that everyone that visited the shop did before leaving. At first Keith would keep it all since it was all usually left for him, but when Val suggested that they start splitting it, he didn’t mind at all and agreed to it so he could stay on good terms with his landlord/boss.

“I’ll see you early tomorrow morning. A lot of the guys will be coming in for breakfast before going out to reset their traps.” Val said as he went to lock the door.

“See you then.” Keith waved as his boss left through the shop entrance, locking the door behind him. He then went up to his apartment through the shop entrance. Once in his room, Keith didn’t bother to turn on the lights and just went straight to his bed. The day was a complete blur, apart from one vivid moment. The slight change in his routine was a bit exhausting for Keith, but at least it was different from the usual gray days that he would have. He then got up from his bed and walked over to the kitchen space of his apartment. He grabbed a bottle of a sports drink out of his small fridge and then turned on the lights. He sat at his kitchen table and dug out the money he had earned that day from his pocket. His stomach growled as he counted the money. Compared to how much he was fed at the lab, Keith practically had only eaten one meal that day. He usually wouldn’t be so hungry if he didn’t shift much, but with the cold weather setting in he was practically burning more energy than usual when he slept in his feline form.

After counting his earnings from the day, Keith instantly separated his allowance from the total and folded up the rest of the money. He walked over to the nightstand by his bid and pulled the drawer open. Inside was a small money box that his boss had given him instead of throwing it away. Keith opened the money box and inside was everything he had collected over the few months of working for Val. He had enough to get some of the things he needed to live a normal life, but still not enough to really be out on his own. He put the money he earned inside and put the box back in its hiding spot.

Keith’s stomach growled again. He went back to his kitchen and reopened the fridge. There wasn’t much food inside, only a few minor things that wouldn’t fill him up. He looked back over at the table at his allowance that was taken out of his savings. _I guess I’m going to the bar tonight._ Keith thought to himself as he picked up the money, revealing the note that was left for him by one of Lance’s friends. He picked up the note and read it again, trying to figure out which of the friends were watching him and Lance talk at the bar and wrote the note. His mind then singled in on the one friend that gave him a chill. She looked nice enough, but the warning his senses gave him about her made him worry. Keith had always dealt with shady characters after he started working at the shop, but none of them gave him a frightening chill like she did. He then broke out of his thoughts and shoved the money and the note in his jacket pocket and headed for the main door to leave his apartment.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_Where the hell is he?_

Keith was standing outside of Lance’s window, annoyed that he wasn’t home even though it was almost midnight. He swore that he would never come back after what happened between them, but he kept thinking about how Lance’s friend gave him a bad feeling and just ended up at his house.

 _I’m probably overthinking this._ Keith thought to himself as he started to walk out of the alley and back to where he wanted to go in town. _But something about her just bugged me. Maybe I should say something? But then that idiot would just tell me I’m crazy or something._ Keith kept fighting with himself over what he should do. He soon reached a park and decided to sit down for a moment and really think about what he should do.

Keith pulled out his phone and the note and just stared at them. _If I talk to him, I know he won’t believe me. But then again, he might just have a brain and listen to me._

Keith debated over what he should do for a bit longer. Then he made his decision.

* * *

 **Me:** You weren’t home. We need to talk. -Keith

* * *

Keith waited for a bit, thinking that he was stupid to text Lance this late. When he started to think he wouldn’t get a reply, his phone vibrated to alert that he had a new message. 

* * *

 **Unknown Number:** I’m at a friend’s house. What do you want?

 **Me:** I need to talk to you about something. Can you meet me somewhere?

 **Unknown Number:** I thought you told me to leave you alone?! Why the hell would I give you any more of my time?

 **Me:** Can you stop being a drama queen and just come out and meet me?! This is serious! After we’re done, we can go our separate ways.

* * *

Keith’s phone was silent for what seemed like forever.

* * *

 **Unknown Number:** Where at?

 **Me:** You know where Rufus’s Bar is?

 **Unknown Number:** Yeah.

 **Me:** I’m heading over there now. Meet me there.

* * *

Keith then got up from his seat at the park and stuffed his phone back in his pocket and headed toward where he wanted to go at the beginning of the night.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, sorry for the wait. After my last update life got really hard for me and I just kind of closed myself off to a lot of things. I tried to write when I felt a bit better, but it was a struggle for a while. I'm doing better now and excited to start working on the next update! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Keith’s phone was silent for what seemed like forever.

* * *

 **Unknown Number:** Where at?

 **Me:** You know where Rufus’s Bar is?

 **Unknown Number:** Yeah.

 **Me:** I’m heading over there now. Meet me there. 

* * *

Keith then got up from his seat at the park and stuffed his phone back in his pocket and headed toward where he wanted to go at the beginning of the night.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

Rufus’s Bar was a hole-in-the-wall bar that sat on the side of the town’s square. During the day, it was a simple sports bar that catered to both sports fans and families. But at night, the bar turned into a hangout for the night owls of the town with its usual chill atmosphere on the lower level, but a hyped, rave-like party above. It was just past one in the morning and the square was full of people bar hopping to all the different shops in the middle of town trying to find the next thrill of the night before everyone closed.

Keith waited near the bar, sitting on a bike rack as he waited for Lance to show up. He found the crowds of intoxicated people around him annoying with they’re loud shouting and overdramatic movements. It was that reason alone that he really hated to go to Rufus’s at night, but it was the only cheap place that would feed him after he closed the shop.

Keith pulled out his phone to check the time, annoyed to see that there were no new messages on the screen. He then unlocked it and opened his messaging app to start a new text.

“Hey,” someone called out from behind Keith, making him stop typing on his phone.

Keith looked behind to see that the person he was waiting on was finally walking up. “Finally,” Keith said as he pushed himself off the bike rack. “How come every time I want to eat I have to wait on you?”

Lance looked at Keith confused on whether he should take the comment as a joke or an insult. “Why didn’t you just eat?”

“The owner doesn’t let minors in after midnight. Come on, I’m hungry.” Keith started to walk to the bar, not wanting to stay out in the cold a moment longer. Lance followed behind him, slowly regretting coming out but finding the night life crowds interesting. Keith walked up to the front and waited for Lance to catch up before talking to the doorman. “Hey, I’m here to see Lou.” The doorman then glanced at Lance. “Oh, and he’s with me. He won’t be here long.” The doorman then let the two in the front door and Keith made a beeline for the practically empty bar on the lower level. He took a seat towards the end, wanting to stay away from the groups coming in the bar for the party on the upper level.

Lance looked around the bar, interested to finally see the inside after years of just passing by. The music from the upper level was muffled, but the dancing everyone was doing made the ceiling fans and lights shake a bit.

“Hey Keith.” The bartender greeted as he put a glass of water in front of him.

“Hey,” Keith responded. “Is Lou in the back?”

“Yeah, I’ll let him know you’re here and he’ll have food for you in a bit.” The worker then walked to the back.

Lance watched the short conversation, wondering how long Keith had been coming to the bar to be so familiar with the workers. “I don’t understand,” he spoke out to get Keith’s attention, “you have a job and come here to eat, but you came by my house to eat for months. Why do that when you seem to have a way to support yourself?”

Keith looked over at him and turned back to the bar once he thought of an answer. “I work for the old man, pay Lou, and hate grocery shopping. Going to your place to eat was an easier and cheaper option for me.”

“Of course it was,” Lance mumbled under his breath.

“And,” Keith continued, “because of how I am, I need to eat more than what you would think was normal and when I eat in my other form, I get fuller faster.”

Lance didn’t know if that part was true. In his class they would talk about werecats and what researchers have discovered about them, but their eating habit were never really a topic. He decided to just brush it off and let Keith have it as his answer and ask the one question that was eating at him. “Why am I here?”

Keith looked back at Lance. “I needed to talk to you.” He answered, confused at why Lance asked that when it was obviously stated before. “You can sit down you know?” He said, getting slightly annoyed with Lance standing behind him and staring down at him.

Lance took a seat on the bar stool next to Keith, getting more frustrated with the situation as it continued to drag along. “What did you want to talk about? If it’s about me knowing what you are, I already said I wouldn’t tell anyone. Or if it’s about knowing where you work, I promise I won’t be back there ever again. If you want me to completely leave you alone, consider that done too because like I said before, you’re nicer as a cat.”

“Are you done?” Keith interrupted, getting tired of hearing another one of Lance’s emotional ramblings.

“One more thing. It’s a real shitty move to text someone whose number you throw away after they give it to you.” Keith looked at Lance, waiting to see if this was the end to his rant. “Now I’m done.” Lance announced with a slight huff in his voice.

“Good. Now, about that friend of yours that came with you to the shop, the one with the white hair, how well do you know her?” Keith asked bluntly, ready to get the situation over with.

Lance’s mood instantly went from anger to confusion. It was as if someone had pulled the seat he was sitting on out from under him. “What?”

“That friend of yours that came to the shop with you. How well do you know her?” Keith asked again, getting frustrated.

“Wait a minute! You asked me to come out here to talk about Allura?! Are you fucking kidding me?!” Lance felt like he was back in his room when he first saw Keith as a human. “Here I am, sitting at a bar with a complete jerk who made me think this was going to be about something serious, but instead he’s asking questions about a girl! What the actual hell?! Was I asked out here to play fucking cupid or something? This makes absolutely no sense! For starters, Allura doesn’t like overdramatic jerks like you, nor would I let her date one! So forget about it! She likes smart guys who don’t have serious RBF like you! Also, her dad could kill you with a single look! And don’t get me started on that crazy ass uncle of hers. He will drive you insane!”

Keith just stared at Lance and waited for him to finish. He felt like he was back in Lance’s room listening to him complain about a failed Tinder date. Lance continued his rant a bit more, reiterating that he disapproved of Keith having crush on Allura and even threw in that he refused to have him as a love rival. He then paused to take a breath and Keith took it as an invitation to speak up. “You done?”

“For now.” Lance answered, still seething at the thought of Keith liking his friend.

“Good. Just so you, I don’t have a crush on her. I have no interest in her whatsoever, so you can calm down. What I wanted to say is that she smelled weird.” Keith explained, completely annoyed with Lance’s assumptions of the situation.

Lance looked at Keith, growing even more confused. He then dropped his head down on the bar. “Why are you so damn confusing?! Life was so much easier when you were a cat.”

Keith looked around the bar after Lance said that louder than he should have. Luckily there were no other customers on the lower level and the bartender was on the other end of the bar. “You’re lucky no one can really hear you right now.”

Lance rolled his head to the side and looked up at Keith. “Can you please explain your weirdness to me before my head explodes?”

Keith rubbed at his forehead as he took in a deep breath. “I’m not really human, so some of my senses are better than yours. You friend smelled weird to me. Not a usual human smell weird. A scary weird. I don’t scare easily, but she scared me enough to want to warn you about her.”

Lance sat up and turned to fully face him. “Look, Keith,” he said, pausing for a moment to get over the uncomfortable feeling of calling Keith by his name for the first time. “This situation is really confusing and stressful for me. Since finding out about you, I’ve been on a constant emotional rollercoaster. But there is one thing I am certain of, and that is that Allura is the nicest person I know. She’s supported me through a lot of stuff. She’s treated me with the same amount of love as my own family does. So I don’t know what you’re talking about with being scared of her. She can be intimidating at first to some people, but she really is a nice person once you get to know her. You probably just smelled her perfume and mistook it as a threatening scent, or whatever. But there is nothing ‘scary’ about with her.”

Keith looked at Lance, taking in everything he had said about Allura. “Ok.” Keith turned back to the bar and took a sip of his drink.

“Ok?” Lance was confused on how easily Keith took his response. He was expecting to argue with him or at least get a more dramatic response.

“Ok.” Keith reaffirmed. “I told you my concerns and that’s all I wanted to do.”

Lance looked down at his hands, still trying to figure out what just happened. “My head hurts.”

“That’s what usually happens to idiots.” Keith commented, a little happy that he can finally call Lance an idiot out loud.

“You know-!”

“Hey kid!” An older man greeted as he walked out from the kitchen doors with a plate filled with a basic bar dinner. “Here’s your favorite. Double bacon cheese burger with curly fries.” He then placed the plate in front of Keith. The man was muscular, obviously an all-star athlete in his past and he had a scruffy dark colored beard that was a vast contrast from his bald head.

“Thanks Lou.” Keith said before picking at his burger.

Lou glanced over at Lance, who was just watching the conversation and feeling left out of the situation like he did with the bartender. “Who’s this?” He asked as he pointed at Lance. “You know you’re the only kid allowed in here after midnight. You can’t bring your dates here.”

Keith glanced over at Lance, a bit surprised he was still sitting beside him. “He’s not a date and I’ve never done that to begin with. I asked him to meet me here. I promise, he won’t go upstairs.”

“He better not. Cops are still riding my ass about the 13 fakes they found last week.”

“I could tell. Did you know that you had an undercover cop sitting outside and watching the door?” Keith asked, remembering the oddly place man sitting outside on the bench across the street that was just staring at the bar and the people walking in.

“Are you kidding me?” Lou asked as he crossed his big arms across his chest and looked outside. “I swear, they’re trying to pull out all the stops to shut down my night hours.”

“They’re bored and need something to and your place is lively enough to give them that.” Keith said before taking a bite of his burger.

“I guess so.” Lou then looked back at Lance. “I’m Louis by the way, but everyone calls me Lou. I own the place.” He extended his hand out to Lance and smiled.

Lance took his hand, taken aback on how much Lou hand swallowed his. “I thought the owner’s name was Rufus.”

“No, Rufus is my grandfather. He gave me the money so I could buy the place so I named it after him as a thanks.” Lou explained. “You want anything to drink?”

“I’m good, thanks.”

Lou then leaned against the countertop behind him, getting himself comfortable to stay out in the restaurant for a while. “So how do you know Keith?”

“Uh,” Lance drug out as he thought of an answer. _He broke into my room as a cat and stole one of my honeybuns out from under my bed._

“He comes by the shop now and then.” Keith spoke up between eating his burger.

“Oh ok,” Lou said as he nodded his head. “I would usually go to there after closing up here and get some breakfast. Val makes a mean ham and cheese omelet. You should try it next time you go there.”

“Sounds good, but I have school during breakfast times.” Lance admitted, feeling more comfortable the more Lou included him.

“You’re in school? What year?”

 “Senior in high school.”

“A senior,” Lou said as he raised his eyebrows in admiration. “Keith why are you hanging out with someone who’s in school? You’re not going to ruin him, are you?” He asked, poking fun at the two teens’ differences.

“He stuck to me. I wanted no part in this.” Keith answered after he finished his burger and started to pick at his fries.

“Are you sure about that? Because I remember it a lot differently.” Lance said as he looked at Keith, remembering all the times he would come over to his house for food and even earlier when he asked him to meet at the bar.

“Sounds to me little Keith is smitten with you.” Lou said as he smiled at Keith, enjoying his embarrassment even though his face didn’t show it much. “Well, he’s in school so I approve. It’ll be nice to have someone to support you.”

“Shut up.” Keith said as he gave Lou a threatening look.

“What?” Lance asked, a bit confused at what the comment meant.

“Nothing, he’s just senile.” Keith said, wanting the entire conversation to end.

“I’m in my forties kid and you’re just embarrassed. I can’t wait to tell Val that you made a friend. The shock alone might give him a heart attack.” Lou laughed at the thought.

“Why would Keith having a friend be shocking?” Lance asked, confused on why it was a rare thing for people to see. “I mean, I know he’s not really the nicest guy in the world, but isn’t he friends with you?”

“He is, and with most of the old salts in this town that visit Val’s place. We never really see him hang out with people his own age. You see, when Keith first showed up in town, he was completely closed off and just worked and stayed in the apartment above the shop that Val let him stay in. He didn’t talk to anyone and did whatever he was told.” Lance leaned in, finding this new information more interesting than anything he’s discovered in the past weeks. “Even though he soon opened up a bit more to us as he got more comfortable, he still never really went out with people his age, or go out at all. Naturally we all started to think he was scared of other teenagers or something since he was so closed off with them whenever some would come visit Val’s. Actually, one night when he was here some of them tried to get him to go and party with them upstairs and Keith was so uncomfortable that I had to step in and tell them to leave him alone.”

“I wasn’t scared of them, I was annoyed,” Keith interrupted. The event happened shortly after he started visiting the bar and wasn’t used to dealing with groups of people his own age even when he was growing up in the lab. During the altercation, he was so busy repressing his urge to shift and attack the teens that were pestering him to normally fight back.

Lou rolled his eyes at Keith, remembering the situation in a different perspective. “So anyway, the fact that he is sitting here, hanging out with you is really shocking. But it’s a good thing too.”

“We’re not hanging out.” Keith repeated, getting frustrated.

“Keith, you invited him out and you two are sitting here talking. You’re hanging out.” Lou explained, really pushing the facts in Keith’s face.

“Whatever,” Keith said as he stood up from his seat and dug his allowance out his pocket and threw it on the bar by his empty plate. “Thanks for the food.” He then headed for the door to leave.

“See you in a bit kid,” Lou called out as he collected the money and dishes that were left behind. “And Lance,” he said, making Lance freeze as he started to walk away as well, “keep bugging him. It’ll be good for him to get the stick out of his ass once in a while.”

Lance smiled. “Will do,” he said as he gave Lou a small salute before heading out. Once Lance walked outside, the air was noticeably colder and Keith was already and a good bit down the street heading home. “Hey! Wait up,” Lance called out as he tried to catch up to Lance.

Keith looked over at Lance once he caught up to him. He had his thin, red jacket zipped up all the way and his hands stuffed in the pockets. “Why are you still fallowing me?! I thought you said you would leave me alone?”

“I did,” Lance shrugged as he put his hands in his jacket pockets as well. “But, as frustrating as you are, you’ve become very interesting in the past 24 hours.”

“We’re not friends.”

“You say that now. But I’m known to be the type to grow on people.” Lance smiled as he looked at Keith, feeling happy that he decided to come out that night. “And besides, you were dumb enough to send me your number.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, some of this might get to y'all. I got a bit emotional while writing it.

“Guys! Marcos lost his ears!”

That’s how it all started. First one boy woke up with his ears and tail gone, and then another, then two more, and so on and so one. Now most of the boys in groups G30-OB2 and G30-OB3 were sitting in a stark white classroom, watching a researcher lecture about the next physical change that they were all about the to go through. This was a normal routine for the boys ever since they turned nine years of age and it continued till they were in their early-teens. Most of the boys in the groups all looked like normal elementary school children, while others that were on the younger side of the age range sat with feline ears on their heads and tails swishing through the openings of their seats. Even though he was much older than the rest, Keith was one of those boys that still looked abnormal. He was almost 12 years old – at least that’s what his identification bracelet told him – and the last of the older boys in the room to still have his ears. As the researcher droned on about physical changes turning into hormonal changes, Keith pulled down at his pointed black ears and rested his forehead on his desk.

Keith looked around the room from his desk. Everyone around him looked normal while all the younger boys in front looked just like him. He pulled at his ears and sunk in his seat as he felt more and more self-conscious with being around the older kids. _Why won’t these go away already? They’re gonna think I’m defective or something._ Keith sat in his seat for a while longer, holding his ears down to hide them. _I don’t want to be here. This is so boring and it’s too cold in here. I want to go back to the dorm and hide in my bed._ Keith then suddenly felt a sharp and painful pull on his tail that made him jump up and yell out.

“Is something wrong Mr. Kogane?” The researcher at the front of the room asked as he looked at Keith. Everyone was looking at Keith now.

“Uh, no sir. I’m sorry.” Keith said as he sunk back down in his seat. The researcher looked him over a bit before breaking eye contact to write something in his journal. Keith waited for him to start talking again before confronting the one person that he knew pulled his at his tail. He looked over his shoulder to the kid sitting behind him, who acted like nothing happened. The boy behind Keith was one of the many in their group whose ears have disappeared. He had tanned colored skin, white hair, and icy-blue eyes. He was sitting back in his seat, listening to the researcher give his talk, until he felt Keith’s glare hit him. He looked at Keith and gave him a confused look before brushing it off and going back to listen to the researcher. Keith stared at him a bit longer and then turned back around and put his chin on his desk and pulled his long black tail into his lap. _I hate it here._

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The grounds of the laboratory’s enclosure were quiet. Outside of the facilities were nothing but woods as far as the eye could see. Through some of the trees, faint lights could be seen, lights from the homes of werecats that could live outside the research building and dorms. Keith stared out his window, looking at the lights, thinking about all the families that were living freer lives out there than he was inside the research facilities with the rest of the orphaned children. His thoughts continued to drift from ones of envy to ones that were more depressing before they were interrupted by a sharp pain on his head.

Keith yanked his head away from the pain and grabbed at his head as he jumped off his bed. “What the hell Lotor?! That hurt!” He yelled as he glared at the same kid that hurt him earlier that day.

Lotor as was standing on the other side of Keith’s bed with some of the other older boys that lived in the dorm standing behind him. “Awe, does wittle Keef not like his ears being pulled? Maybe you should just chop them off since they’re obviously not going away anytime soon.” All the boys laughed and agreed at his remark, enjoying in the fun of teasing the late-bloomer of their group.

“Just leave me alone! Everyone’s ears disappear at different times, mine are just taking longer.” Keith argued, trying to use what he knows about his genetics for his defense.

“I wonder why they’re taking so long? What do you guys think?” Lotor asked, looking about at his small gang of preteens.

“Maybe they got his age wrong and he’s still a baby,” one suggested. “Or maybe he’s not really a man,” suggested another.

All the suggestions made Keith’s blood boil. Yes, he was a late-bloomer, but it was a natural thing from what he learned from the researchers. It doesn’t become something concerning unless he still had them when he turned 13. Another boy made a new suggestion and Keith had to start repeating to himself to stay calm. Fighting was not an option. If he were to start a fight, he would be taken away and stay the night in a room by himself. That was something Keith did not want to happen again.

“Or maybe,” Lotor suggested, “his crazy ass dad did some kind of experiment on him to keep him like that forever?” All the boys laughed at the suggestion and began to agree and think of their own ideas of what kind of experiment it was.

That broke Keith. He lunged across his bed and tackled Lotor to the ground. All the boys crowded around them as they fought, not really cheering for anyone just for the action that was happening. Keith sat on top of Lotor, holding his head in place by his white hair as he punched him. Lotor fought back by clawing and biting Keith, trying his hardest to get the upper hand so he could get a few blows in himself. Just as quickly the fight started, the two were ripped apart by research officials that were monitoring the room’s cameras. One researcher pulled Keith up and locked his arms up so that he couldn’t move as much while the other researcher helped Lotor up and checked on his injuries as he put on a show of being scared and saying that Keith went ‘feral.’

Keith continued to try to pull away from the researcher holding him back. “You think my dad’s crazy,” Keith shouted as he continued to fight. “At least my parents didn’t try to kill me you piece of shit!”

This caused an aggressive response from Lotor, making the researcher quickly grab as he tried to lung at Keith. “Get him out of here!” The researcher ordered, not wanting anymore fighting to start.

“No! Let me go!” Keith protested as the researcher holding him started to drag him out of the dormitory.

Once outside, the researcher passed Keith off to waiting guards in the hallway. Keith tried to fight and get away, knowing exactly what was going to happen. One guard quickly grabbed him before he could break free and the other grabbed at his legs to lessen his mobility even more. “No! Let me go!” Keith fought as the guard carried him through the research facilities. The location they were going was on the other side of the facilities and Keith continued to fight the entire time, no matter how many eyes ended up watching him on the way. Once at their destination, the guard holding Keith’s legs let go and wend to unlock a large heavy door. “No! Let me go! I don’t want to go in there!” Keith protested as he tried to free himself from the guard holding him. Once the door was open, the guard started to move Keith close to the room. “No! Let me go!” Keith fought even harder now, making it even more difficult for the guard to do his job. He eventually had to restrain Keith again and throw him in the room. The wind was knocked out if Keith as he hit the hard floor. After he caught his breath, he started to hear the door closing behind him. “No!” He jumped up and rushed at the door, hitting it just as it closes and tears start to form at the corner of his eyes when he heard the lock’s gears move into place.

“No! Please! Let me out! I’m not feral! Don’t leave me here! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! Just let me out please! I won’t attack anyone again! Please!” Keith pleaded as he banged at the door. There was absolute silence on the other end of the door. There was absolute silence in the room alone. Keith’s heart started to pound faster and he breath started to become rapid. “Let me out! I’m sorry! Please let me out!” Keith pleaded again as he pounded on the door. The sounds echoed in the room, but no response. Keith backed away from the door, tearing running down his face as he tried to steady his breathing. He looked around the room. There was nothing but four walls, a floor, the door, and a single window and security camera just below the high ceiling. Keith backed into a corner and out of the moon light in the room. He slid down the wall and wrapped his tail around his feet and grabbed at his ears. “Please let me out. I’m sorry.” He pleaded once more as he curled up in a ball. “I’m sorry,” he whispered before breaking down and crying.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

“How long has he been like that?” A researcher asked as he looked at the security screen for the isolation room. On the screen Keith was curled up in a corner of the room, not making any sound. The room that was monitoring him was dark with computer screens lighting the room. Sitting in front of the screens were two monitoring researchers that kept constant notes of the events that they were tasked to watch with another researcher standing behind them.

“Most of the night. He was pretty hysterical at first, begging to be let out right after being put in, but ever since then, he’s just been sitting there.” One of the monitors explained as he typed on his keyboard so that the screen would zoom in.

“What about the kid he attacked?”

“He’s fine,” the other monitor in the room answered. “He seemed shaken at first, but he’s been gloating about the fight all morning so far and painting the kid as a feral subject. After watching this and reviewing last night’s feed, it’s obvious he instigated the fight. We’ve seen things like that happen with other big cat breeds, but over time he seems to have a special interest in backing other kids into a corner till they break.”

“Ok, so that proves the kid isn’t feral, that’s good.”

The monitors looked at each other for a moment. “What about the other kid in the group? The snow leopard?” One of them asked a bit concerned about the other half the situation being overlooked. “He’s been verbally aggressive with the younger boys recently and has started to get the older ones to do his work for him.”

“He’s showing normal behaviors for his breed. We can look back at him later.” The researcher answered as he flipped through Keith’s file. “Right now, we have the issue of the kid still having his ears.” The researcher said as he reviewed Keith’s file, finding the note that another worker wrote down the day before about him being the only one of the older boys that still had ears.

“Well, based on what we know, he does have another year for them to go away. He might just be a late-bloomer? We get a few of those now and then.” One of the monitors suggested as he glanced down at his own copy of Keith’s basic info.

“I know, but this is his fourth fight this year. That’s too much aggression for a male specimen that still has his ears. There’s also the issue that Dr. Kogane was his father and had him hidden away from us for three years.” The researcher said as he took a seat in a chair on the other side of the room.

The two monitors looked over at him concerningly. “You don’t think Kogane did something to him, do you?”

“Yeah? Even though he was known to go against the book a lot and work from his beliefs instead of procedures, I doubt he would actually test on his own kid.”

“I have doubts about the theory too. The only notes we found when raiding his home were just physical one’s about the kid’s health and progress. Nothing about what medicines or injections he may have given him. But he was one of us so we can’t cross anything out just because that’s his kid.” The researcher looked back up at the screen. “Maybe we should run some test.”

“You sure? The test we ran on him last time should still be good.”

“I just want to make sure his levels are normal.” The researcher closed Keith’s file and stood up from his seat. “Have the guards bring him to the examination room in an hour.”

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The sound of the lock’s tumblers moving into place rang through the room, waking Keith from his light sleep. He peeked out from over his arms, squinted his eyes so they could adjust to the daylight that was shining through the high window. The door slowly started to open, letting in more light. Keith raised his arm to shield away the extra light as he slowly began to stand up. Once the door was open, he could see a researcher standing by the opening.

“Do I get to leave?” He asked hesitantly, not sure if the sight of the scientist was a good thing or not. Two guards then walked in view of the door frame and into the room, striking panic in Keith’s blood. He backed into the corner he sat in during the night. “Go away!” One of the guards reached out for his arm, activating Keith’s fight instincts. “No! I don’t want to go!” The hair on his ears and tail stood up and he scratched at the other guard’s hand as it came closer to him. The two were eventually able to push through Keith’s protest and painful scratches and got a hold of him and began to drag him out of the isolation room. “No! Let me go!” Keith yelled as he continued to try to fight for his freedom. “I promise I’m normal! There’s nothing wrong with me! Just let me go!” Keith continued to beg as he was forced out of the room and to a new location, the researcher closing and locking the heavy door to the isolation room before following behind.

Keith continued to fight and beg as the guards and researcher walked him to what looked like an operation room with a hospital bed equipped with restraints, bright lights, and all kind of monitors inside. As Keith was walked closer to the bed, he tried his hardest to pull away from the guards’ hold, refusing to be strapped down. “I said I was sorry! I promise I won’t attack anyone again! Just tell them to let me go!” He begged to the researcher.

“Sorry, we have to follow protocol when there is an attack.” The research explained as he went to put on blue latex gloves.

“But I’m normal! I promise! There’s nothing wrong with me! I’m not defective or anything!” Keith pleaded before he was forced to lie down on the hospital bed. One guard continued to hold him down as the other started to restrain his arms and legs. “Stop! Please just let me go!” Keith screamed as he continued to make the guard’s job to strap him down difficult.

Once Keith was strapped down, the guards backed away and stood to the side so that the researcher could do what he needed to do. “If you keep thrashing around like that, we’ll have to sedate you again.”

“No just let me go!” Keith begged as tears formed in the corner of his eyes once his anger turned to fear. “Please!” He continued to pull at his restraints harder and harder as the researcher got closer to him.

“I’m sorry kid, but I have to follow protocol.” The researcher then grabbed a test-tube shaped container from a medical tray table. He removed the cap to reveal a needle hiding underneath. “You need to stay still so I don’t waste any of this.”

“No! Get that away from me! I don’t like it!” Keith yelled as he thrashed around even more.

“Can you two help me hold his head and shoulders still?” The researcher asked the guards, wanting to hurry and finish the testing. Both the guards came over to the hospital bed and one pinned Keith’s shoulders down on the mattress while the other forced his head still.

“No! Let me go!” Keith yelled out as he tried to fight the guards off him. He then felt a sharp pain in the side of his neck and went silent and still from the shock.

“There we go, that’s better,” the researcher said as he injected the sedation serum into a vein.

Keith instantly felt like he was in a fog from the drug. He could hear the researcher and guards talking, but couldn’t really register what they were saying. Another person entered the room with some kind of medical equipment with them. The room then went silent and started to fade when Keith tried to see who the new person with them was. Then everything went dark.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

Keith jumped awake in a cold sweat. It was dark outside but the lights in his apartment were still on. The light was a welcoming sight compared to what he just relived. He remained lying on his bed for a few more minutes, taking in deep breaths to steady his heart. He soon sprung up from the bed and walked over to his bathroom. After turning the lights on, Keith stared at himself in the mirror for a while, the visual reminding him that he was older now and looked like a normal human. No black, longhaired ears or long, skinny tail in sight. He then turned on the water at the sink and started to wash the sweat off his face.

When he turned the water off, he could hear his phone buzz from the kitchen table, signaling that he was getting a phone call. Keith let it ring on as he dried his face, knowing who exactly would be calling him this late after work. His phone soon went silent after his automated voicemail picked up.

Keith walked out of the bathroom and to his kitchen area, picking up his phone to see just how long he was asleep. On his screen he not only saw that it was only an hour after closing the shop, but he also had five missed calls from the same unknown number along with numerous text messages. The number harassing his phone became a normal thing over the week with there being several text messages during the day and then a mixture of text and phone calls at night. Keith never really replied to or answered them except to tell the person to leave him alone so he could work or sleep.

Keith put his phone back down on the table and went to grab himself something to drink. Soon after opening the fridge, there was a knock at Keith’s door that led to the stairs outside.

 _Who the hell is here this late?_ Keith thought to himself as he closed his fridge and walked over to the door. He unlocked the door knob but made sure to keep the chain lock in place in case the person at the door tried to rush in. He opened the door, hesitating at first and then pulling it as far as he could. “Yeah?” Keith asked as he peeked through the crack between the door.

“Hey! I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by!” Lance greeted with a huge smile on his face.

Keith’s shoulders instantly fell and his face soured. He then shut the door and relocked the door knob.


	7. Chapter 7

_Who the hell is here this late?_ Keith thought to himself as he closed his fridge and walked over to the door. He unlocked the door knob but made sure to keep the chain lock in place in case the person at the door tried to rush in. He opened the door, hesitating at first and then pulling it as far as he could. “Yeah?” Keith asked as he peeked through the crack between the door.

“Hey! I was in the neighborhood and thought I would stop by!” Lance greeted with a huge smile on his face.

Keith’s shoulders instantly fell and his face soured. He then shut the door and relocked the door knob.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

Lance stood on the top stair landing, smiling at Keith’s closed door after it had been intentionally closed in his face. He blinked a few times before dropping his hand and smile. Clapping his hands together and bring them up to his mouth, Lance took in a deep breath through his nose and let it out through his mouth. He then jumped into action and started banging on Keith’s door.

“Hey, what gives you emo jerk?! You’ve been ignoring me all day! Open up!” Lance yelled as he banged on Keith’s door, his voice echoing out in the air.

Keith pulled the door open, letting it snap the lock chain tight. “Would you shut up?! You’re going to get me in trouble!” He snapped in a hushed tone.

“With who?” Lance asked, not believing the threat one bit. “This is the deadest part of town. The only other people here are passed out drunk or sleeping on their boats.”

Keith looked at Lance, annoyed that his statement was right and that he couldn’t think of anything that would prove him wrong. “What do you want? Shouldn’t you be home,” he asked, giving up on trying to fight.

“I couldn’t sleep,” Lance shrugged as he relaxed his shoulders. “And when I can’t sleep I sneak out and go for a walk and I somehow ended up here. When I saw that your lights were still on, I thought about coming up and seeing if you wanted to hang out.”

Keith stared at Lance, not sure if his story was true or not. “I have to open early tomorrow.” He was lying.

Lance raised an eyebrow at him. “No you don’t, that happened today. Or yesterday?” Lance said, remembering that it was actually a new day than what he thought since he hasn’t gone to bed yet.

“How do you know that?”

“I couldn’t sleep last night either and texted you. You opened it around 5am. Last time I visited, Val mentioned that you only open up super early once a week before people go out and set traps.”

_Damn receipts and old man._

“So,” Lance drug out as he leaned forward to peek through the door crack, “can I come in?”

“No.” Keith answered quickly as he tried to block the view of his apartment from Lance.

“Why not?! You came by my place a lot.”

“I was hungry!” Keith snapped, getting irritated that he kept repeating that when he went to Lance’s house, it was just for the food and not to hang out.

“Well, if you won’t let me in then come out and walk with me! It’s creepy out here by myself.” Lance demanded, determined to get Keith to do something other than brush him off and ignore him.

“If it’s creepy then why do you go on walks?”

“Because it makes me tired! Now are you coming or not?”

“No.”

“I’ll buy you breakfast.” Lance wagered, knowing exactly what would get Keith to come out.

“The old man already feeds me breakfast.”

“You opened early today, which means he won’t open till lunch tomorrow.” Lance countered, ignoring that what he said was a day behind. “Also, his name is Val and you should really start calling him that. Since he basically helped you get a start here, it’s the least you can do for him.” Keith rolled his eyes at Lance, getting more annoyed with him being at his front door. “Now are you coming with me or not?”

“I rather not.” Keith answered flatly.

“Then let me in,” Lance said as he took a step toward the door.

Keith stepped more in front of the crack of the door to stop Lance. “Fine. Let me grab my jacket first.”

“Ok.” Lance smiled and stepped back from the door with a big smile on his face, happy that he won and talked Keith to come out and do something interactive.

Keith closed his door and leaned against it as he stared blankly into his apartment. _I could just leave him out there and never come out._ Keith thought to himself as he contemplated on what to do. He was never interested in interacting with people in his spare time since things usually turned bad with his past experiences. _But knowing him he would wait till morning and corner me at work._ All the possible scenarios ran through Keith’s mind, and it all came back to giving in and doing what Lance asked being the easiest option. And a better one than staying in and possibly having another dream about the lab again.

Keith walked over and picked up his jacket from his bed and grab the key to the main door of his apartment off the kitchen table. He turned off the lights and unhooked the chain lock on his door and walked out.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The sound of the waves crashing on the shore was the only source of white noise on the beach. The sky was dotted with stars and the moon was doing a better job at lighting the shoreline than the streetlights by the seawall were. After about an hour of walking down the seawall and Lance forcing small talk out of Keith, the two were sitting on the beach just listening to the water hit the shore.

“So, do you think you’re more human or more cat?” Lance asked, breaking the silence.

Keith looked over at him, really confused but also annoyed that he brought up his abilities. He thought that maybe Lance would never bring it up since he promised to not tell anyone, but Keith figured that them being alone in the middle of the night wouldn’t stop him from his mindless curiosities. “What do you mean by that?”

“I mean, do you live mostly as a cat or a person? I’ve mostly known you as a cat, but you obviously have a life as a human so I’m just wondering which you really live as most of the time.” Lance explained, trying to continue to understand his new friend’s world.

“Why are you wondering?” Keith asked again, still not understanding where the question came from or why it was important.

“Well,” Lance said as he let go of his legs and rested back on his hands as he continued to watch the waves, “in school whenever we talk about werecats, they always tell us that when you all get older you eventually choose which life you want to live, whether it’s as a cat or as a human. So, I’m just wondering which one you chose. A cat or a human?”

“I’m both.” Keith answered frankly as he continued to stare at Lance in confusion. Lance looked over at him waiting to hear more. Keith sighed out of irritation. Explaining his life and what he is was never his favorite thing to do since it would bring up a lot of baggage for him. “That thought is a lie that the coats tell everyone.”

“The coats?” Lance asked, confused on who Keith was talking about.

“That’s what my group called the researchers at the lab I grew up in.”

“You’re group?” Keith glared over at Lance. “Hey, I’m just trying to understand,” Lance said as he held his hands up in defense, “they don’t really tell us much at school.”

Keith looked dawn at his lap, pulling at his fingers as he thought carefully about what to say and what to keep to himself. “When you’re born, the coats would give you a classification that puts you a certain study group your whole life. Mine was G30-OB3, that would tell the other coats what generation in the lab I was both in, that I was orphaned, and that I was a half breed.”

“Wait, how were you orphaned if you were born in a lab? Did something happen to your parents or something?” Keith glared at Lance again, a bit more threatening this time. “Got it. Another time.”

Keith took a deep breath. “We all grew up as human children and when we become adults, we would be moved on to interact with the other groups born in our generation. They would say that it was to get us more associated with other people so we can live somewhat of a normal life, but really it was to breed us since they would plan and put us with the same breed classifications. Pure breeds were the only ones who would be able to live outside the facilities in housing on the lab’s property, but everyone else stayed in dorms inside the facilities living under constant watch.”

“So, you all live as humans?”

“Most of us,” Keith shrugged. “There are some that would shift and refuse to turn back to get out of the lab and be sent to a zoo. They thought that being treated as a wild animal would be much better than being treated as a monstrous lab rat. But that only worked for the big cats.”

“There are certain types of werecats?” Lance asked, finding everything more interesting than what his teachers had told him. His teachers never talked about different types of werecats in their lessons and it made him think that they were done at random were just domestic cat breeds.

“Yeah. There are only six classifications, the big cat breeds – leopards, jaguars, tigers, lions, and snow leopards – and of course, there are house cats like me that just developed over time from cross breeding. We all outnumber the big cats because of their breeds being poached over time while we could hide as pets. But even though there are more of my type than them, we’re treated like the bottom of the rung since we’re so common.”

“Then who’s the top?”

“Leopards. I’ve never met one before, but I’ve heard from others in my group that ran into some that they know that they’re above everyone.”

Lance took in what Keith said, interested in learning that there were actually certain breeds of werecats and a natural hierarchy within them. He then thought about asking Keith what it was like to live in the lab, but had a feeling that that would be a touchy topic for Keith since he obviously broke out of the facilities since werecats weren’t allowed to live on the outside without being monitored. He waited a bit for Keith to continue talking, but he stayed silent which told Lance that continuing the conversation might be a bad idea.

“Well, enough about you,” Lance spoke out, breaking the silence again, “is there anything you want to know about me?” He looked at Keith and smiled, a bit excited to hear what he might ask.

“Not really,” Keith shrugged as he stared out at the ocean.

Lance’s smile fell. “Really? Nothing? Nothing at all?”

Keith looked over at Lance with a straight face. “You talk a lot, so no, nothing.” He answered, reminding Lance about all the times he would rant or talk to him when he was a cat about his family and life. He pretty much already knew a lot about Lance whether he wanted to or not.

Lance pouted. “Why are you so closed off?”

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “It’s how I am.” And it’s how he’s learned to protect himself. If he interacts with people less, there’s a lesser chance of something happening to him.

“Well, you don’t have people constantly watching you anymore so you can loosen up a bit. It would make life a bit easier for you.” Lance suggested, hinting at how Keith can find a way for Val and the rest of the shop’s usual customers to stop telling him to get out more and make some friends.

 _Being out and just sitting on the beach is loose enough for me._ Keith thought to himself, being reminded how this situation made him uncomfortable.

Lance then seemed to have a sudden shift in his mood as he sprung off his hands and started to take his shoes off. Keith just sat and watched him, not really wanting to ask what he was doing since he knew the answer would be something out of the blue. Once his shoes were off and his pants legs rolled up, Lance pushed himself up and started to walk toward the water.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked, even though he knew exactly what Lance was going to do.

“What does it look like? I’m walking in the water,” Lance answered as he continued to walk away.

“It’s freezing,” Keith warned. He may not come out to the beach often, but he knew the water would be comfortability cold at this time of night.

“Can you stop being so negative for once? It’ll be fine.” Lance then stepped into the water and a massive, icy shiver went up his body instantly. He could feel Keith’s stare on him and turned around with a fake smile on his face. “See? The water’s great!” He lied as he could feel frostbite starting to form on his toes.

Keith watched Lance force himself to walk more into the water, clearly seeing that the water wasn’t great. A rush of cold air rushed through and made Keith shiver. It was getting too cold for him and he really wanted to head back inside were it was a bit warmer. He threw his hood on and zipped up his jacket and uncrossed his legs so that he could pull them into his chest. He continued to watch Lance kick around at the water, seeing that he must have gotten used to the water’s temperature.

“If you’re going to keep walking around in there, I would suggest using your phone as a flashlight.” Keith yelled out so Lance could hear him over the waves.

“Why?”

“Because some of the salts have said that they’ve seen sharks come up near the shore lately.” Keith replied, not sure if the news was true, but felt that it needed to be said since most of the sighting have been at night.

“What?!” Lance instantly ran out of the water as fast as he could, quickly taking his phone out of his pocket and turning on the flashlight as he did. He held the light out over the water and tried to see if he could spot any sharks around where he was through the waves.

Keith covered his mouth to stop himself from chuckling at the scene. He’s seen Lance trip over clothes in his room, run into doors, and get in other misfortunate situations, but seeing him run out of the water from a small mention of sharks seemed be a lot funnier.

Lance turned around and looked at Keith, not really sure of what he just heard. “Did you just laugh?”

Keith came back to reality and realized that he must have been louder than he thought. “No.”

“Yes, you did! I heard it!” Lance accused. “You actually laughed!”

“No, I didn’t! Even if I did, how could you have heard me all the way over there?”

“Because I did! I can’t believe I actually made you laugh,” Lance said with a smile, happy about his accomplishment.

“Maybe I laughed at how stupid you looked running out of the water?” Keith countered, trying to down play the situation.

“You said that there were sharks in there!” Lance argued back, trying to justify his actions.

“Yeah, but not big ones! Anyone would know that only small sharks come up by the shore.”

“Ever heard of Jaws idiot?!”

Keith looked at Lance confused, not really understanding what he meant.

“You’re kidding, right?” Lance asked as the possibility of Keith not understanding him set in.

Keith looked around as if to search for an answer. “You’re talking about the jaw bone, right?” He asked as he pointed to his own jaw.

A thread snapped inside Lance when he heard the question. He then let go of all the tension in his shoulders when a new mission challenged him. “That’s it. Let’s go,” he said he started to walk back toward Keith to get his shoes.

“Go where?” Keith asked, still confused about what was going on.

“We’re going to my place. I need to correct this situation.” Lance said as he started to dust sand off his feed and put on his shoes, completely forgetting about his socks.

“Correct what?”

Lance stopped what he was doing and looked over at Keith with a sort of frustrated expression. “You’ve obviously never seen Jaws! I need to fix this! If you are going to be living in the real world, you have to watch some classic movies.”

Keith gave him another confused look, unsure if he should say why he was confused this time.

Lance narrowed his eyes. “You do know what a movie is right?”

Keith stayed quiet.

“Ok, that settles it, you’re staying over at my place and we’re watching movies all night.” Lance said, making a final decision for the two as he pulled on his final shoe and jumped up.

“What? No way!” Keith protested, not wanting to stay out any longer and would rather go back to his apartment than go back to Lance’s home.

“Don’t argue! We are having a movie marathon whether you like it or not!” Lance argued back, very determined with his mission. “I would be a bad friend if I let tonight end with you not seeing at least Jaws!”

“Are you insane? It’s the middle of the night! I’m not going to your place this late.” Keith argued back, pointing out how crazy the plan was.

“Yes, you are! Now come on!” Lance demanded again, refusing to back down on the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like these chapters are short. Do y'all think these chapters are short?


	8. Chapter 8

“Don’t argue! We are having a movie marathon whether you like it or not!” Lance argued back, very determined with his mission. “I would be a bad friend if I let tonight end with you not seeing at least Jaws!”

“Are you insane? It’s the middle of the night! I’m not going to your place this late.” Keith argued back, pointing out how crazy the plan was.

“Yes, you are! Now come on!” Lance demanded again, refusing to back down on the plan.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The night was still and the only thing that brought a bit of life to the streets were the lamps that dotted the roads and walkways. Lance’s home street was dim with very little lights coming from the homes with a few still having their porch lights on or a window would dot every other building. Lance’s home was completely dark like most of his neighbors. The toys that his twin siblings would usually leave in the yard became invisible in the front gate’s shadow and turned the whole yard into a big mine field of unknowns. The front porch light was turned off, which made sense since everyone that lived there was accounted for when Lance’s parents last checked, but the inconvenience made unlocking the front door a tedious job.

Right as Lance was able to get his house key into the door, a loud ‘moo’ sound called out from behind him and echoed through the street. He snapped his head around and looked behind him and at the stray he brought home. “Will you be quiet?”

Keith looked up at Lance, his stance stiff and defensive after the shock of hearing the toy he stepped on make a noise. “It’s not my fault you never clean your yard!” Keith snapped in a hushed tone. “Why are we going this way anyway? Can’t we just use your window?”

“Because one: the window only unlocks on the inside, and two: thanks to complaints about the cat colony in the ally, they cleared the trash and boxes back there so there’s no way we could climb through without one of us going through the front anyway.” Lance explained, getting irritated with Keith’s complaining. “Now be quiet. If we wake up my parents we’re both dead.”

“Can’t I just go home? I didn’t want to come here in the first place!”

“Then why are you here?” Lance asked with a smirk as he slowly started to open the front door.

“Because you wouldn’t let go of my arm and literally dragged me here!”

Lance quickly shushed Keith once the door was opened enough to walk through. “Come on,” said as he started to walk inside. “Oh, but grab Kaltenecker first and bring it with you.”

Keith raised an eyebrow. “Grab what?”

“Kaltenecker. The toy cow you stepped on. It’s Lilly-Bean’s favorite and she’ll get really upset if she sees that she left it outside in the morning.”

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s explanation and quickly snatched the plush cow up from the ground, making it ‘moo’ loudly again.

Lance harshly hushed Keith. “Don’t squeeze it,” he snapped.

“This is stupid,” Keith snapped. “I want to go home!”

“Well, you can’t. Now come on.” Lance then walked down the steps and grabbed Keith’s arm and pulled him in the house.

Once inside, Keith was taken aback at how Lance’s home looked. He had only seen the inside of Lance’s room, but never ventured out when visiting. Just staring into the cozy and inviting living room made Keith’s apartment look cold and empty. The room was about the same size of his apartment, but it was like a completely different would with all the family photos on the walls and lived-in nature of the room. The vast differences Keith continued to spot made him more and more uncomfortable with his surroundings that he unconsciously backed himself in a corner near the door.

“My mom’s a big movie person,” Lance explained quietly as he walked over to his family’s entertainment center to look through his mother’s massive collection. “It started out as my dad just getting her all the movies they saw together on their dates, but now she has such a big collection that we rarely watch actual television. We even have duplicates of some of the movies on VHS and DVD so we can keep watching them.” Lance dug through the layers of movies till he finally found what he was looking for. “Here it is,” he cheered as he held up the shark themed thriller from the 1970’s. “Now just to decide whether if I should grab the sequels or something else.”

Keith wasn’t paying attention to what Lance was rambling on about. He kept scanning the foreign looking room, getting more and more defensive as the surrounding continued to overstimulate him. He soon focused on a family portrait that was hanging near him in the foyer. It was a massive family photo of Lance with his entire family. It was hard to tell who was who in the photo with there being so many people. The only people Keith could recognize in the photo besides Lance were his younger siblings because in the photo there were two toddlers in matching outfits. From what he could remember from Lance’s talks, the twins were the youngest in the massive family and they were a bit older now than what they are in the photo. A family photo seemed foreign to Keith. The only kind of photos that were taken of him growing up were ones taken at the lab for his records to document his examinations and growth. He’s never seen a picture with so many smiling faces before and found it a bit uncomforting.

“Hey Keith, you ok?” Lance asked, snapping Keith out of his discomfort.

Keith looked over at Lance and then down at the stack of movies in his hands. “I thought you were only going to make me watch one?”

Lance smiled. “No way man! This is going to be a marathon remember?” He then took the stuff cow out from Keith’s hand and walked over to put it on the couch. “Come on.” Lance walked back and grabbed Keith’s arm and dragged him back to his room.

Lance’s room hadn’t changed much since the last time Keith was in there. His bed was unmade like usual, his desk was disheveled, and there were some clothes on the floor. Once inside, Lance went to work to set up the movie night. He dug out his laptop from his bookbag and tried to cleanup some areas of his room. Keith stayed by the door, not really knowing what to do since this was the first time he was in Lance’s room as a human. He felt more comfortable with being there when he was a cat because he could do what he wanted, but now that he’s there in his human form, his actions are a bit more restricted.

“You want to sit on the bed or the floor?” Lance asked once he was done waking up his computer.

“What?”

“Do you want to sit on the floor and watch the movie, or sit on the bed?” Lance asked again, trying to figure out whether he should put his laptop on the floor or leave it on his desk.

“With what happened last time, I think the floor is the better option.” Keith answered, still staying next to the door.

Lance looked at him confused but then quickly realized what he meant. “Oh! Yeah, right,” he agreed with a slight blush of embarrassment on his face when he remember the last time Keith was in his room. Lance then put his laptop on the floor, giving enough space for the two of them sit down in front of it and watch the movie. He then took the pillows and comforter off his bed and put them on the floor along with an extra blanket he grabbed from his closet. “We’ll start with Jaws like I promised. I grabbed the sequels too in case you wanted to see more but I also grabbed some of my favorite movies if thrillers turn out to not be your thing. My mom has all kinds of genres so if you end not liking anything we can always grab more.”

“Can’t I just watch the one and leave?” Keith asked, not wanting to spend a whole night questioning something he knew nothing about.

“No way! This is your first movie marathon! We’re going all out and finding your kink!”

“My what?”

“Your kink. You know, something you’re interested in? We’re going to find yours for the kind of movies you’ll like. Everyone has one so you should too.” Lance explained as he finished setting everything up. He then sat down in front of his laptop and inserted the DVD into the drive. “Now turn off the lights and come sit down.”

Keith rolled his eyes, but willingly complied. After turning the lights off, he walked over and sat next to Lance, keeping the same amount of distance from him as he did when they were sitting on the shore. He looked at the computer screen and wasn’t really impressed with the short clips of the movie that the menu was playing.

_This is going to be a long night._ Keith thought to himself.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_“Yeah you heard him! Slow ahead,” Brody yelled at Hooper before he started to throw chum over the edge of the boat. “Slow ahead,” he mumbled to himself out of frustration, “I can go slow ahead! C’mon down and chum some of this shit!”_

_Behind him, the water started to swell and breaking the surface for a moment a massive great white shark chomped at the bloody chum in the water._

_Catching the giant monster’s final moments, Brody jumped up and stared at the water before he slowly started to walk backwards toward the boat’s cabin. Still reeling from what he saw, he slowed himself once he reached the cabin and scanned the rest of the water through the windows. “You’re gonna need a bigger boat,” he muttered out to Quint._

“This scared you?” Keith asked as the action picked up in the movie, not really understanding how an obviously fake shark would be scary.

“Well, obviously not now, but when you’re seven and have assholes for brothers this is scary! I couldn’t go to a beach for like a year because of that thing.” Lance admitted as he continued to watch the movie.

The two teens have relaxed a bit more throughout the movie. Lance had wrapped himself up with his comforter while Keith leaned back against one of the pillows and had taken off his red jacket.

“But how are you not scared or freaking out right now? I thought this was your first movie?!” Lance asked, completely disappointed with Keith’s next-to-nothing reactions to the film.

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “I may have never seen a movie before, but that doesn’t compare to what I’ve already experienced. I may have been isolated growing up, but I didn’t live under a rock.”

Lance pouted, growing frustrated with how nothing he does phases Keith.

“But this is pretty interesting,” Keith admitted after a moment of silence to watch to movie more. “I’ve always wondered what it would be like to go on one of the fishing boats now and then. Working in a shop where most of the customers are old salts, I hear a lot of interesting stories of when they would go out on the water and work.”

“So you’ve never been on a boat before? No offense, but I would’ve thought you hated water.” Lance said, a bit surprised by Keith’s curiosity with the ocean.

“No, why would I?”

“Because of that whole cats hate water thing,” Lance explained. “I think it’s because it messes with their whiskers or something? But anyway, you’re part cat, so shouldn’t you hate water or something because of that?”

Keith looked at Lance for a bit, completely confused on where his logic came from. “Just because I’m a werecat doesn’t mean I am a cat.” Keith was growing a bit frustrated with Lance’s assumptions. Lance was the first person that would ask him questions about how he lived the way he did. Keith had always lived with people who were the same as him or understood what he was for most of his life. After breaking out of the lab, he was left alone and felt sort of free with being able to forget that part of his life. But Lance ruined that for him now and then with his questioning. He knew that the questions came from a good place, but it was a bit much for him sometimes. Even when some of Lance’s questions made it seem like he still thought of him as a cat and not as a person.

Lance could sense Keith’s slight irritation in his response. “Sorry.” He then turned to continue to watch the movie, sinking a bit in his blanket. Lance always had a bad habit of asking too many questions when he gets excited about something – and learning more about Keith was something he was excited about. He had never met a werecat in person before. Lance had only heard about them in school and wondered if animals he saw in zoos were ones in hiding. But now he’s in a position where he’s sitting in his room and watching an old movie with a real werecat. Questions kept bouncing in his head since he found out about Keith’s secret, but he learned very quickly that talking about himself was something that he didn’t like doing. When Keith finally opened up when they were on the beach, Lance thought he had finally broken down his wall and was able to learn more. But now, he seemed to have taken a huge step backwards.

Lance sat silently, letting the movie continue through different scenes as he thought about what to say. “You know, my Pops knows someone with a boat and I know how to work it,” Lance started, breaking the silence between them. After thinking about their past conversations, he realized that Keith liked being treated as a normal person. He probably would never admit it, but it seemed to relax him to a point that he would talk to Lance, whether he was arguing with him or just having a small conversation. In the end, it seemed to make him as comfortable as he would let himself be.

Keith looked over at Lance confused. He was becoming more interested in the movie as it played out and forgot what exactly they talked about last.

Lance looked over and saw his confusion. “You said you would like to go out on the water sometime. If you want, I can ask him if we can borrow it for a day next week or whenever and go out on the water. My friends can join us too, if you’re ok with that. If not, it can just be the two of us.”

Keith looked at Lance for a bit, remembering what he said earlier about being envious of the customers from the shop. “I’ll think about it,” he said as he turned back to watch the movie.

Lance turned back to the movie as well. _That wasn’t a no._ He thought to himself, feeling a bit happier than how he felt before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone,
> 
> I'm really sorry for the hiatus, but I'm really thankful with how understanding you all were. Life is still a little tough for me, but better than I was since I last updated. I'm happy to say that I will be going back to posting an update a week and being active on my Tumblr again. This is going to be a tough year for me, but I'm so happy to have support form wonderful people like y'all in my life both online and offline. I hope you all enjoyed the new update (sorry that it's a bit shorter this time) and feel free to come over and chat with me on Tumblr if you want.
> 
> Thank you again! :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I finally get to update!! I'm sorry for the wait and thank you so much for your patients!!

 BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNGGGGG!!

The once quiet hallways instantly roared with noise as students exited their classrooms to hurry to their lockers before going to the lunchroom.

Hunk let out a big sigh as he, Pidge, and Lance all walked out of their chemistry class together. “I feel like my brain just exploded,” Hunk announced, feeling exhausted and frustrated from the lesson. “Did either you understand any of that?”

“I just followed what she said to do,” Pidge replied, looking just as mentally exhausted as Hunk did. “I hate chemicals. They’re too unpredictable.”

“Well, we have that test coming up, you two want to get together and study,” Hunk asked as the trio rounded a corner to the senior hall of lockers and started toward his and Lance’s locker. “We can go to my place. My parents have their date night tonight so they won’t bother us.”

“I don’t know if I can.” Pidge shrugged, not minding the skipped trip to her locker since she never really used it. “Matt’s supposed to be coming home from school this week, but we don’t really know when. He’s busy finishing some research for one of his professors and he never tells us when he leaves campus.”

“Wait! Matt’s coming home,” Hunk asked in pure excitement. “Does that mean we get to go on our usual camping trip with him?”

“Maybe,” Pidge shrugged. “He’s bringing a friend with him this time. I’ll keep you two updated.”

As the two talked, Lance continued to walk next to them, not really paying attention to what was being said. Ever since the middle of class, Lance had been preoccupied with his phone, even more now that they were on their lunch break.

::::::::::

 **Me:** Want to come by tonight and start a new series? (ﾉﾟ▽ﾟ)ﾉ We could watch either Indiana Jones or Back to the Future. They’re good and they only have three movies.

 **Me:** Oh wait, I never explained those to you!! (;¬_¬)

 **Me:** Anyway, Indiana Jones is all action/adventure where an archeologist looks for magical objects. And Back to the Future is sort of si-fi/comedy with a time traveling car.

 **Me:** They’re both really good series so either is fine with me. But if you want to go back, we can watch the second Jaws movie instead since we didn’t last time.

 **Me:** You can come by however you want. I know you probably won’t close till late today, so I can let you in either through my window and let you borrow some clothes if you want. I’ll even swipe some snacks and some of mom’s leftovers too!! She’s a really good cook! ＼（＾▽＾）／

 **Me:** And if you want to stay over I can dig out some of my older brother’s pajamas and let you borrow my sleeping bag so you don’t have to walk back to your place really late.

 **Me:** Or if you’re ok with it, I could just bring my laptop over to

::::::::::

“Lance who are you texting?” Pidge asked as she tried to peer over Lance’s arm to see his phone screen.

Lance snapped back to reality and realized that he had walked from his desk in his chemistry class to Hunk’s locker. He then locked his phone, leaving the message unfinished, and shoved it in his jacket pocket to stop Pidge from being nosey. “No one. Do either of you know what’s for lunch today?”

“You had them in your phone as ‘Grumpy Cat.’ You don’t give just ‘no one’ a nickname in your phone.” Pidge said, not letting Lance change the subject.

“’Grumpy Cat?’ Who’s that?” Hunk asked after he opened his locker.

“No one. I’m hungry, can we go eat now?” Lance asked again, trying to get the topic off him. There was no way Lance was going to tell his friends about Keith. At least not at that moment. Teaching him to be more social and hanging out with his friends was something that Lance planning to do with him, but now was not the time. He wanted to see how the idea felt to Keith.

“Did you give another Tinder guy your number?” Hunk asked, looking a bit concerned.

“Or maybe it’s a Tinder girl since he doesn’t want to talk about it.” Pidge smirked, finding some enjoyment in picking on Lance.

“What?! I thought you were done with them?” Hunk asked shocked and confused at the possibility.

“I am!” Lance stated. “They play too much, and so do the guys!”

“Then who are you texting?” Pidge asked again, wanting to know the big secret.

“No one,” Lance said, soon figuring that he would have to follow with some kind of answer to get out of the circle of questions. “It’s just a friend I met in town one night. That’s all!”

“A friend you met?” Pidge asked, not really believing what she was being told.

“Yeah, we hang out now and then. No big deal.” Lance then pushed through the two and started to head out of the hallway, forgetting to throw his bookbag in his locker.

Hunk and Pidge both watched him walk down the hall a bit. “Lance hangs out with other people besides us?” Hunk said slightly amazed.

“I don’t know if Allura would be happy or shocked by it.” Pidge added, just as confused about everything.

**..::::..::::...::::..**

“Wait, Lance hangs out with someone other than us?” Allura asked after Hunk and Pidge told her about Lance’s mystery friend. “That’s great Lance!”

Lance put his elbows on the table and held his head as he groaned. “Why is this such a big thing for all of you?”

The four teens were all sitting around one of the round lunch tables in the large dining hall. The room was loud with everyone’s conversation echoing but the small table was like a world of its own with the surrounding sounds seeming like white noise behind them.

“Because you never really do that.” Hunk answered with a shrug. Out of the group, he’s known Lance the longest and even though he was a social butterfly, it was usually only with people he would see often like at school or in his neighborhood. The news of him hanging out with someone that he had met in town was a bit concerning for Hunk since it was something very unlike the Lance he knew. “Where did you meet this person?”

“In town,” Lance repeated. “I couldn’t sleep one night, took a walk, met them, and we hung out. It’s really no big deal.”

“How long have you been ‘hanging out’ with this person?” Pidge asked, making air quoted with her fingers to show she still wasn’t believing the story.

Lance thought about that for a moment. He knew that if he told the truth and said a few months, everyone would go insane, but he also hated lying to his friends. “A few weeks. Not every day of course. He works and I have school so usually just when I can’t sleep or when we’re both free.” Saying a few weeks wasn’t a lie. Lance has known Keith for months but has only gotten to know him without the whiskers and tail for a few weeks.

“Did you say he?” Allura asked excited. “This is a guy?”

“Yeah.” Lance answered a bit confused with her excitement. He then realized why Allura was so happy about the news and quickly tried to back track and correct his story. “We’re just friends! I’m not interested in him and I’m sure he’s not interested in me!”

“Why is he straight?” Pidge asked, now feeling satisfied that the conversation was going where she wanted it to go in the beginning.

“No,” Lance reacted. “Well, I don’t know. We don’t talk about that sort of thing! It really is no big deal so can we just drop it already?”

“Yeah, I think you two ganging up on Lance really isn’t fair.” Hunk spoke up, trying to support his friend.

“I wasn’t ganging up on him,” Allura said, feeling a little hurt.

“I was,” Pidge announced as she ate her lunch.

“You’re horrible Pidge,” Hunk added before he tried to divert the conversation off Lance and to possibly have all of them get together and study that night.

Lance enjoyed the rest of his lunch period, it being as normal as they usually were. The group became excited when Pidge announced that her older brother Matt was planning to come home for his break and was bring a classmate with him. The teens all loved Pidge’s older brother. He seemed to make their group whole and when he left for college, there seemed to always be a slight void within their circle. Another reason for their excitement about Matt’s return was for their usual camping trip with him. Every time Matt returned home, they would all go to a cabin that Pidge’s family owned for a weekend and just enjoy the lake when it was warm and the wildlife when it was cold. But most of all, they all enjoyed looking at the stars at night. Matt was currently studying to be an astrophysicist just like his father, so looking up at the sky was something he always did when visiting home. The cabin was a perfect spot with it being far away from the slight light pollution that the small town created and Matt never passed up a chance to look up and chart the stars and look at the planets.

As the lunch period was close to ending, Lance and the rest of his friends were walking back toward the senior hallway to get things out of their lockers. When Lance was digging through his locker his phone buzzed in his back pocket. He threw his bookbag into his locker and dug out his phone.

::::::::::

 **Me:** And if you want to stay over I can dig out some of my older brother’s pajamas and let you borrow my sleeping bag so you don’t have to walk back to your place really late.

 **Grump Cat:** Stop sending me those weird symbols and squares. I don’t understand what they mean and they’re annoying.

::::::::::

Lance covered his mouth to prevent himself from laughing out loud. _He’s so dumb. I need to tell him about emojis._ He thought to himself as he deleted his unfinished message from earlier so he can type a new one.

::::::::::

 **Grump Cat:** Stop sending me those weird symbols and squares. I don’t understand what they mean and they’re annoying.

 **Me:** Movies tonight or no? I can even come by after school if you have to close late.

 **Grumpy Cat:** Stop texting me. I’m working.

 **Me:** ANSWER THE QUESTION!!!! (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

 **Grumpy Cat:** I’m turning my phone off.

 **Me:** Fine! I’ll be over after dinner and bring leftovers. ( ᐛ )و

::::::::::

Lance waited for a reply till the final bell rang. He realized that Keith followed through on his words and probably turned his phone off and decided to leave things where they were at. He grabbed his bag and jacket out of his locker and started for his next class.

 _Maybe I should I ask if he would want to go on our camping trip?_ Lance thought to himself as he walked to his elective class alone. Even though he planned for Keith to get more comfortable with him first, Lance thought that maybe inviting him on the trip would be a good thing. The cabin was out in the woods and if Keith ever felt uncomfortable with the situation, he could easily leave. Also, he wouldn’t have to stay the whole weekend with them so he thought that maybe Keith would be willing to only be there for a few moments and then have Matt take him back home, allowing him to use his job as an excuse to leave.

_I’ll ask him later._

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The day was winding down to an end with the sun beginning its way down from the sky as everyone exited the school grounds. Lance and his friend were standing out by the entrance, waiting for Allura to join them outside. Besides lunch period, walking home would be the only time that they all could get together and hang out on school nights. As they waited, Lance would periodically check his phone when no one was looking, hoping to see a new message. There were several notifications and messages on his lock screen, but none of them were what he was looking for.

“Hey guys!” Allura called out as she rushed out of the school building to join everyone. “Sorry for taking so long. I had to stay behind and talk to my teacher.”

“It’s ok,” Hunk smiled as everyone turned. “We weren’t waiting long.”

“Is everything ok with your teacher? It was your AP one, right?” Pidge asked as they all started their walk toward their homes.

“Yeah, it was nothing major really.” Allura explained with a shrug. “She just wanted to see how my paper was going. You know, pick at my thesis for a bit. She even let me borrow one of her books to read.”

“This is the teacher with like a mini library of classic books in her room, right?” Lance asked, trying to put a face to the subject.

“Yeah, and some are first editions.” Allura added, her eyes sparkling a bit.

“Nerd,” Pidge teased as she messed with her phone.

Allura frowned as she glared at Pidge. “Says the one who can’t go a few minutes without posting a new hacking code on the dark web,” she said, calling Pidge out on what she was currently doing. “Seriously, didn’t Matt or your parents talk you after the incident with the police?”

“They did,” Pidge answered. “Mom said she was worried and said to stop, dad said he was impressed but upset and said to use my skills on my studies, and Matt said that if I do it again to do it better and not get caught. I obviously choose the more interesting option.”

As the group continued to walk their shared path a sporty-looking black SUV past by and immediately stopped a few feet up the road. Everyone stopped in their tracks, confused not only by there being a car on the road when the road they were on was usually walked, but also by the fact that the car stopped so suddenly after passing by.

“You think they’re lost?” Hunk asked as he looked at everyone.

“Probably,” Lance answered. “No one here seems to have a car like that. It looks too new.”

The passenger side door suddenly swung open and the person inside jumped out. “Pidge!” The passenger yelled as they stood by the car and started waving. It was a guy that closely resembled Pidge with the same hair color and facial features. The only difference was that his hair was a lot shorter than hers and he was wearing glasses. Clearly this was Pidge’s older brother.

“Matt!” Pidge yelled as she started to run over and welcome her brother home. She ran into him to give him a strong hug. After her excitement for her brother being home passed, Pidge instantly became her usual aggressive self. “What the hell,” she shouted as she punched Matt’s arm. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming home today?! And what the heck is with the car? Where’s yours?”

Matt laughed as he rubbed his sore arm. “Sorry sis. Research was time consuming and I had car issues. You know I forget to text you when things happen.”

“Then where did the car come from?!”

“It’s my friend Shiro’s,” Matt answered as he pointed into the car toward the driver’s side.

Pidge looked into the open car and instantly felt embarrassed when seeing that Matt wasn’t lying when he said a school friend was coming home with him. The driver was about two times bigger than Matt with muscle alone. If that alone didn’t scream tough guy, he also had black hair with most of it buzzed except for some of on the top of his head and with the front part dyed white. He also had a long scar over his nose and was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Because of the shirt, Pidge could easily tell that his right arm that was resting on the middle console was not his real arm.

Shiro lifted his prosthetic arm and waved at Pidge. “Hey.”

Pidge was highly interested. “How did you do that,” she asked as she instantly crawled into the passenger seat to get a closer look at the arm. “I’ve never seen a prosthetic move so naturally! Did you special order it? Where did you get it? Who made it? Did your school’s robotics department make it? Can I study it?”

Shiro didn’t really know what to do and looked at Matt for some help. Matt shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry man, I forgot to warn you that Pidge really likes robotics. I promise she won’t reprogram it.” He then turned and walked toward the rest of the group. “Hey guys,” he greeted as he waved at everyone.

“Hey Matt, long time no see.” Lance greeted as he and Matt clasped each other’s hand and shared a quick hug. Matt and Hunk did the same where he and Allura shared a more traditional hug, Matt blushing a bit during it.

“Hey, do you guys want a lift home?” Matt offered after they all exchanged a bit of small talk to catch up. “I can move our bags to the back and make room. We can catch up more on the way to your houses and I can introduce you all to Shiro.”

“Yeah,” Hunk cheered, starting for the car before anyone else.

“I would really appreciate that,” Allura smiled, happy that she won’t have to walk home by herself like usual since she lived the farthest than the rest of the group.

Matt turned to Lance. “How about you? I know we’re already close to your place, but do you want a ride too?”

Lance thought about the offer for a bit. “Thanks, but I’m good. Besides, you can’t really drive down my street anyway. Tell your friend I said ‘hi’ though.”

Matt smiled. “I will. Are you going to join us for the camping trip? We always go.”

“Yeah, I’ll definitely be there! Just let me know when we’re going.”

“Will do,” Matt said with a salute. “I’ll see you later Lance!” Matt them hurried back to the car, yelling at Pidge to move to the back seats and leave Shiro’s arm alone.

Lance stayed back and watched them drive off, most likely heading toward Hunk’s neighborhood first. He then reached in his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through his lock screen and scanned all his notifications.

_Still nothing._

He then unlocked his phone and instantly opened up a new message.

::::::::::

 **Me:** Hey Mamá. I won’t be home for dinner tonight. Matt came home so I’m going to Pidge’s to study and to catch up. I’ll probably be back late or spend the night. I promise not to wake you and pops if I come back late.

 **Mamá:** That’s good that Matt made it back home safe! Tell him I said hi and that he should come visit the twins before going back. Be safe if you come back home tonight. Love you honey!

 **Me:** Will do! Love you too!

::::::::::

Lance then put his phone away in his back pocket and turned away from his usual route home and headed in a different direction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all!! I just wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of doing a Klance!Greatest Showman fic. You know, them as Phillip and Anne. I really love the fanart of it and really want to contribute to it. Also, I plan to post a slight idea drabble I have for another possible Klance fic on my Tumblr. So if you would be interested in seeing what it maybe about, feel free to stop by and follow. :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hey all! Sorry for such the long delay for this update. I had finals to do and drama to survive. But now I'm on summer break and guess, I'm actually not taking classes this summer!! *happy tear* I actually get to be somewhat stress free for three months! And hopefully no more interruptions for this fic. Love you and thank you so much for being patient with me.

::::::::::

**Me:**  Hey Mamá. I won't be home for dinner tonight. Matt came home so I'm going to Pidge's to study and to catch up. I'll probably be back late or spend the night. I promise not to wake you and pops if I come back late.

**Mamá:**  That's good that Matt made it back home safe! Tell him I said hi and that he should come visit the twins before going back. Be safe if you come back home tonight. Love you honey!

**Me:**  Will do! Love you too!

::::::::::

Lance then put his phone away in his back pocket and turned away from his usual route home and headed in a different direction.

**..::::..::::..::::..::::..**

"Kid wake up!"

The sound of Val's banging on the door made Keith jump awake. He looked around for a bit, not sure what was going on. Val banged on the door again, bringing Keith fully into reality.

"Are you alive in there? I need help opening."

"Uh, yeah I'm up. Sorry, I'll be down in a minute." Keith responded as he pushed himself out of bed.

"You better or I'm keeping your tips." Val yelled out as he started to walk back down to the shop.

Keith stared at the back door that led to the shop until he heard the door at the end of the stares close. He then let out a heavy sigh of relief and rubbed at his face so he could wake up some more. "What the hell is wrong with me?" Keith asked himself as he thought about his recent habits over the past few days. Like clockwork, Keith would usually would wake up as the sun rose and fall asleep once he hit his bed. But lately he would find himself lying in bed awake all night, and then sleep in every morning till Val or his alarm to leave woke him up. Keith ran his fingers through his hair as he let out another frustrated sigh. His frustration quickly turned to concern once he felt something on the sides of his head that should not be there.

"No. No. No. No. No." Keith mumbled as he hurried over to the small bathroom in his apartment. He looked in the mirror and his gut instantly dropped. Poking out through his hair, there were a pair of black cat ears on each side of his head in place of his human ears. Hesitantly looking behind, Keith then saw a long cat's tail poking out from his pants' waistband and it made him drop his head in defeat. "This can't be happening."

Being in hybrid-form after maturity was rare for most werecats, but common for half-breeds. Researchers discovered that this was a biological warning signal within half-breeds that would go off before something were to happen to them internally. Illness, stress, or anything else big or small would cause for a half-bred werecat's ears and tail to appear whether they wanted to or not.

Keith looked at himself in the mirror for a moment before taking in a deep breath to calm his frustration and focus on correcting the situation.  _Go away. Go away. Go away._  Keith chanted to himself in his mind as he tried to focus on making his feline features disappear. This was something that Keith wasn't sure on if it would work or not. Focusing on which form he wanted was easy to do when he wanted to be fully human or fully cat, but when a half-breed finds themselves in their mixed form, waiting for things to resolve themselves was always the solution that they were told would work. But Keith didn't live in the lab anymore and waiting wasn't going to work.

After his mind settled and he was sure that he was focused on what he wanted, Keith peeked into the mirror to see if he was back to how he should be. Black cat ears were still poking out through his hair. He groaned out of frustrated as he grabbed at his ears, tempted to rib them off his head himself. "I hate these things!"

"Kid get down here! I'm not taking the chairs down myself!" Val yelled up the shop stairwell, growing more annoyed with how late Keith was with coming down.

"Coming!" Keith yelled back, trying to figure out what he could do to hide his secret from everyone. He quickly changed out of his sweatpants and shirt and into clean clothes, making sure to make his tail trail down one of his pants' legs. He then dug through his dresser, trying to find something he could use to cover his ears. He could just wear his usual jacket with the hood up, but Val would instantly tell him to pull it off once he saw it. Keith slammed one of the drawers closed after reaching the bottom of it and instantly opened the next one underneath. He didn't own much clothing, just the basics necessities and a few things he randomly picked up while traveling from the lab or was given to from Val when he first moved in. Pushed back in the corner of the drawer, Keith finally found a grey colored beanie that could hopefully help him. He snatched it up and hurried back into the bathroom. The beanie was luckily from one of Val's sons so it was stretched out and worn and hopefully he won't have an issue with Keith wearing it while working.

Keith put the cap on and tried his best to tuck away his ears in a way that wouldn't give him a headache or make it hard for him hear everything around him. He winced a bit as he pushed each of his ears back and pulled the beanie over them. Once he finished situating everything, he took a final look at himself in the mirror before deciding that it was all he had and he would have to hope that it worked.

He grabbed his jacket and hurried down to the shop, still trying to will his ears and tail away in the back of his mind as he headed down. He walked into the shop and saw that Val was already done prepping the bar area and was heating up the grill. He used the opportunity to sneak by and start to take the chairs off the tables and set up everything else in the shop.

"What's with the hat kid?" Val asked, not skipping a beat with what he was doing.

Keith mentally cursed at himself, annoyed that it was brought up so soon. "I, uh, didn't wash my hair last night." He answered, hoping it was believable.

Val stayed quiet for bit, making Keith wait for a response. "Ok. Just don't tell the customers and stay away from the grill today."

"Yes sir."  _Like you ever let anyone go near your grill._  Keith thought to himself as he rolled his eyes and continued to focus on his work.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

"Hey kid, once you finish with that, go take out the trash." Val ordered as he continued to sit and catch up with his regular customers before officially closing the shop.

Keith's day seemed to continue go downhill since his frustrations that morning. Once the usual customers started to come in that morning, it was nonstop teasing from them about the beanie he had to wear. Val then got irritated with his phone constantly buzzing throughout the day and warned Keith that if he wouldn't turn it off, he wasn't going to be paid for the day. Now he was stuck doing all the dirty work in the store and closing by himself as punishment for being late.

He carried the dirty dishes that he collected from behind the bar and dropped them off by the wash station, pausing for a moment for a slight break from closing. The store has never been as busy as some of the other diners in the area and because of that Val never really cared for the trash to be taken out every night. But the next morning was trash pick-up, so taking out all the trash in the back was added to Keith's already long list of closing chores. Deciding that the last bit of dishes could wait and his other closing task were already done, Keith went to go empty the trash cans in the back and clear the bags that have been sitting in the back waiting to be taken to the alley by the dumpster.

The smell of the trash usually wouldn't bother him, but today was different. Throughout his whole shift, Keith's senses were working in overdrive. His head was pounding from the mixture of sounds being louder than they were and his ears being pushed back. His stomach would turn whenever he took in a big breath of coffee, grease from the grill, or even when he got close to the fishermen that came in to the shop. The trash was no better, making him want to puke right into the bin when he walked up to it because of the over powerful smells from the bags that sat and waited to be taken out. Keith took in a deep breath before moving closer to the open trash bags so that he wouldn't have to inhale the different smells as he tied up the bags. He quickly tied up all the trash bags in the bins, making it a bit easier for him to breathe when taking them out and adding them with the other bags piled up by the back door.

Keith looked at the different bags of trash by the door, thinking about if he should really take out the trash in his state or wait and take them out in the morning before it's picked up. He reached up and touched the side of his head, feeling his feline ears under the beanie along with feeling his tail brush against his skin under one of his pants legs. Finishing his chore right then seemed to be the better option to do instead of waiting and hoping he turns back to normal in the morning. He pulled his shirt over his nose and grabbed some of the bags and headed outside.

His shirt was no help at all. Once Keith was out in the alley near the dumpster, he almost threw up in his shirt from all the smells hitting him. Not only was the smell of damp and moldy trash nauseating, the salt air and the smell fish coming from the docks was too much to handle. Keith dropped the trash bags halfway to the dumpster and backed away so he could gather himself.

"I really hate today," Keith mumbled to himself as he tried to steady himself. Once he felt he was ready, Keith stood straight up, took a deep breath, covered his nose with his shirt again, and then went to finish what he started. His motions seemed to be done all at once as he threw the trash away. Right when he thought he was in the clear and finally able go inside and get the rest of the bags, Keith's shirt slipped down right as the dumpster lid closed. Nausea instantly hit him and everything in his stomach ended up on the wall of the alley.

Keith's throat burned and stung each time he coughed. His headache was turning into an intolerable migraine and it made him want to rip the beanie off his head and yell all his frustrations out to the world.

"Keith?" Someone called out from the end of the alley. Keith looked down the alley and his stomach turned again at the sight of one of the reasons for his horrible day. "Dude are you ok?" Lance asked as he started to walk in the alley to check on his friend.

Keith jumped back in defense mode when Lance got closer to him. He covered his nose with his shirt again and pinched it tighter than he did when taking out the trash. "What the hell?! You stink!" He snapped, reaching his limit with the day and feeling sick again.

Lance froze about five feet away, feeling a bit insulted. "Excuse me," he asked as his irritation started to boil.

"You stink! When was the last time you showered?!"

"An hour ago, after gym class. Who the hell says something like to a friend that's trying to check on another friend?! I just saw you puke and got worried but somehow you're still a jerk even when you're sick!"

"Showered an hour ago my ass! You smell worse than the trash!" Keith argued back, still focused on Lance's overpowering smell.

That made Lance snap. He takes his personal hygiene very seriously. He even taught his sisters how to properly wash their faces and put together spa days with them. "I'll have you know I leave gym class smelling nicer than anyone else in there! Not only do I bring my own body wash, I also make sure to put on deodorant and body spray before leaving! You need to have your senses checked because if you think I smell bad, something is seriously wrong with you!"

"Something is wrong with me idiot!" Keith yelled back without thinking.

**..::::...::::..::::..**

"Woah! That is a problem." Lance said as he stared in awe at Keith's ears.

"Yeah. They've been causing me trouble all day." Keith admitted as he scratched at the slight pain that was still behind one of his ears.

The two were alone in the closed restaurant. The sun was starting to go down and was casting a glare on the windows from the outside, blocking people's view of the inside. Val had left for the night to go on a short fishing trip with some of his regular customers, leaving Keith in charge of the building till he opened back up the day after he came back. Lance was sitting at the bar while Keith was finishing up the last of his closing chores.

"Well, the beanie did look pretty out of character for you. But not as much as that mask." Lance said, making sure to point out the dust mask that Keith was wearing over his face now. "Seriously, I finished taking the trash out for you, so is that really necessary?"

"Yes, because you stink!" Keith answered quickly. After throwing up a second time from the smell of the garbage, Keith searched all over the back room for something to use to reduce the smell. Luckily, he found a dust mask that Val had left in the back from when he did renovations to the shop while Lance handled the rest of the trash for him. Keith kept it on while he finished his cleaning in the back, but realized that he still needed to keep it on around Lance.

Lance smelled his jacket, thinking that maybe Keith was smelling the scent of the dumpster on his clothes, but all he could smell was his body spray he put on after gym class. He even ran his fingers through his hair, thinking that maybe his hair smelled sweaty, but that wasn't it either. "I don't know what it is you're smelling on me, but since you said that your senses are heightened maybe they're just so strong they're making you think that good smells are bad smells."

Keith chose not to respond to Lance's suggestion. He knew he was smelling a bad smell, or at least a smell he wasn't used to. His senses would heighten whenever he was cat, but with his hybrid form, they're much stronger and make it harder for him to pinpoint the sources exactly.

"So, does this kind of thing happen a lot?" Lance asked, the question practically killing him.

"No. This is only the second time this has happened to me." Keith admitted as he put the mugs away under the coffee station. "It was years ago and I had a bad fever then."

"Well, you were throwing up a lot so maybe you're sick again?"

"I threw up because of the trash. The smell was so bad, I could taste it." Keith complained, internally shivering as he remembered the experience.

"Then what do you think is wrong?"

"I don't know," he admitted, a bit irritated from not knowing what to do. "All I can do is wait it out and see what's wrong." Keith put away the final mug and decided that talking about the elephant – or cat – in the room was annoying. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I said I was coming over! Did you not read my text?!" Lance asked a bit offended. "Why would you respond if you didn't read them?"

"Because you wouldn't stop messaging me and the old man threatened to take today's pay away."

"His name's Val." Lance reminded him, something that was becoming normal between them the more they interacted. "Oh yeah, that reminds me! Do you know what an emoji is? Or at least an emoticon?"

"A what?"

"The weird symbols and squares I kept sending you. What kind of phone do you have anyway?" Lance asked as he leaned over and looked behind the bar for Keith's phone, knowing that he usually kept it behind there when he was working.

"I don't know. One that one of the old man's kids had. Hs wife reactivated it and gave it to me when she found out I didn't have a phone." Keith explained as he went to carry the dish bin to the back.

"Val and Ellie!" Lance yelled as Keith walked through the back door. "And this really does look like one that their kids' might have owned." He said to himself after he found and picked up Keith's phone which was an older version of the first few smart phones. "I don't even think they make stuff for this model anymore."

"What?" Keith asked as he peeked through the small window above the grill.

"I said your phone's old!" Lance yelled as he turned the phone back on, a bit surprised that there was no passcode to get in but then remembered that passcodes were before the model's time. His text messages that he sent to Keith started to pop up after a few moments. Lance then went into Keith's text messaging app and saw that he only had three conversations saved – one that was mostly from Val saying when he planned to open the shop or not, another mostly from Keith to Rufus of when he planned to stop by his bar to eat. The last one was of Lance's conversations with Keith, his number still not saved. When comparing the conversation with the others, it looked more casual with all of Lance's broken messages and Keith's few responses back. Lance quickly saved his number in the phone as Keith walked out of the back room, giving himself a nickname like he did with his contacts in his phone. "Anyway, emojis and emoticons are what those weird symbols and squares are. They're like little faces to show the context of a person's message. Some of them aren't showing up on your phone because it's a dinosaur."

"It works, that's all I need it to do." Keith answered as he grabbed his beanie and the store keys Val left behind the counter.

"You don't even have games on here." Lance mentioned as he continued to snoop through the phone. "Or photos."

"It's a phone. I just need it to make calls and send messages." Keith said as he went to the front of the store to pull the blinds down over the windows.

"Yeah but you have to live a little sometimes. What if you're stuck on a bus or something and you're bored?"

"I'll probably take a nap." Keith answered, not really getting Lance's point.

"Spoken like a true cat." Lance said as he finished his less that fun exploration through Keith's phone. Lance opened Keith's camera app and was a bit disheartened when he saw the poor quality of it. He turned around in his seat and pointed the camera at Keith. "Smile," he said to get Keith's attention as he walked back from the front, snapping a picture right when he looked up.

"What did you just do?"

"Took a picture of you," Lance said as he saved the photo and sent it to himself.

"What the hell?! Why would you do that when I'm like this?"

Lance shrugged his shoulders. "Because I'm a teenager and that's what we do. Besides I wouldn't worry about other people seeing it. Your camera is really low quality so I'm sure if someone were to see it, they would think the ears were fake."

"I don't care! Don't ever do that again!" Keith snatched his phone out of Lance's hand and instantly deleted the photo.

"Ok, sorry dude." Lance apologized as he held his hands up in defense.

Kieth let out a tired sigh and rubbed at his forehead. "Sorry, it really is no big deal. I'm just really hungry, being in this form takes a lot out of me."

"Then why didn't you eat during your shift? Doesn't Val usually cook you something?"

"He does but I told him he didn't have to today because you said you were bringing actual food over."

"So you did read my text!" Lance shouted, feeling triumphant that Keith really did read his messages.

"I skimmed them. Where's the food?"

Lance went quiet, falling hard from his high horse. "Uh, probably being cooked or eaten right now."

Keith glared at Lance, irritated that he missed his chance on free homemade food. He then woke up his phone and started a new message. When he finished, he put his phone away in his pocket and put his beanie back on, tucking his ears to the side so that they wouldn't make noticeable bumps on his head.

"You ok there buddy?" Lance asked, feeling a bit nervous.

"We're going to Rufus's and you're paying."

"What? Why? You're the one with the job!"

"But this is your fault." Keith said as he walked to the door. "Now come on, I'm hungry."

Still fuming, Lance grabbed his bookbag and willing followed Keith out of the shop. Keith locked up the shop and the two started to walk down the street and towards the town's square. The two continued to bicker as they walked, catching the attention of a shopper walking out of the nearby convenience store. The stranger focused on Keith as the two teens walked down the street, something about him peeking his interest. He then smirked as he let out a small chuckle.

"I knew I smelled a stray in the area," he said to himself before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

 


	11. Chapter 11

“We’re going to Rufus’s and you’re paying.”

“What? Why? You’re the one with the job!”

“But this is your fault.” Keith said as he walked to the door. “Now come on, I’m hungry.”

Still fuming, Lance grabbed his bookbag and willing followed Keith out of the shop. Keith locked up the shop and the two started to walk down the street and towards the town’s square. The two continued to bicker as they walked, catching the attention of a shopper walking out of the nearby convenience store. The stranger focused on Keith as the two teens walked down the street, something about him peeking his interest. He then smirked as he let out a small chuckle.

“I knew I smelled a stray in the area,” he said to himself before turning and walking in the opposite direction.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_Indiana quickly grabbed Marion after fighting off three bandits. “Marion! Get out of here!” The situation was getting intense and Marion getting hurt or taken was something that he couldn’t let happen. He quickly looked up and yelled, “Duck!” as he pushed Marion down so that she could get out of the way. Right away, Indiana punched a bandit that was running up to them with a saber in his hands and then grabbed Marion again to push her out of harm’s way before fighting off more enemies._

“I don’t understand why this would be exciting. The fighting is obviously fake.” Keith said in between bites of his burger. “Is this what all fight scenes in movies look like?”

The two were back in Keith’s apartment above the shop eating their take-out from Rufus’s bar and watching the first Indiana Jones movie together. Lance let Keith pick the movies and he figured that the Indiana Jones series looked more interesting than Back to the Future. The two set up Lance’s laptop on a chair before settling in to eat their food. Keith was sitting on the floor leaning against his bed while Lance was sitting on top of the bed next him. At first, Keith liked the movie for all the exotic places the archeologist went to and the topic they were talking about, but whenever the fighting started his interest would fall. Lance didn’t respond to Keith’s comment right away like he usually did so he assumed he was probably busy eating his meal.

_Marion jumped out of the wagon full of hay that Indiana had thrown her in and started to run back toward where she was to go help him, but stopped and turned around once she saw a bandit running towards her. She stopped and did a double take at a small vendor with kitchenware on display, an idea popping in her head. She grabbed and iron skillet and retraced her steps, wanting to prove that she was not some poor weak damsel. As the man ran up to her, Marion took a ready stance and prepared to swing her improvised weapon at him if he were to grab her._

_The man stopped and stood at the ready for a moment and then reached behind him. Slowly, he pulled out a small Janbiya dagger out from behind him and started to laugh as he revealed how much of an advantage he had over Marion. Marion stared at the dagger in utter disappointment that she brought an iron skillet to a knife fight. She then lightly chuckled with the man, playing on the mood. “You’re right,” she said, agreeing that he had the advantage over her, and started running down the street._

_Marion darted through all kinds of entry and archways to try to get her pursuer off her trail. Each turn would fail and the bandit seemed to only catch up to Marion more and more. She then decided that going back on the attack was her only chance of getting away. Marion quickly darted through a doorway with the man closing in right behind her. Off screen, the sound of a pan hitting something hard could be heard and soon after, the bandit fell back through the doorway, seeming to be knocked out unconscious by being hit by the iron skillet. He is then dragged back in through the doorway and Marion slowly emerges out, checking to see if reinforcements were following them before running back down the alley._

“I’ve been in fights before and I can say this is crap. There’s no way a pan can beat a knife in a fight.” Keith commented as he continued to watch the scene, internally cringing with every time he watched the female lead awkwardly run away on screen. He waited again for Lance’s input, but there was still no comment. When comparing their last movie night, every time Keith questioned or commented on the actors’ action, Lance would instantly shush him and tell him just enjoy the experience.

_Marion was now hiding in a straw basket, hiding from a group of bad guys as they ran past her. As they continued to search for Marion, a small monkey ran toward the pile of baskets and started to climb on the one that Marion hid inside of. Once on top of the basket, the monkey started to angrily screech to get the groups and attention and signal that they were fooled._

“Ok now come one! Monkeys can’t be that smart! He wasn’t even following her to begin with!” Keith tried again. Lance mentioned on their walk back that his little brother would watch this movie all the time since Indiana Jones was his favorite “powerless” hero, so he knew that Lance would eventually say something to defend it for his little brother. “Really, I don’t get the hype over this movie. It’s so cheesy it’s hurting my eyes.”

Lance was still quiet and Keith could feel one of his feline ears twitch out of irritation. “Aren’t you going to say-,” Keith started to ask as he turned to look up at Lance, but stopped when he found that Lance was staring at him. “What are you looking at?” Keith asked as he glared at Lance, making him break his trance.

“Huh? What?” Lance asked after he snapped back to Earth. He then looked at the screen and was instantly disappointed. “Damn it! I missed the best part,” Lance complained, referring to the scene where Indiana is challenged to fight a bandit with a sword, but instead shoots him as his response, ending the fight instantly.

“What were you staring at?” Keith asked, getting irritated when he started to think he knew the answer.

“Huh?” Lance snapped back from the movie and looked back at Keith. “Oh! Um, nothing.”

Keith’s face soured with frustration. “You were staring at it again, weren’t you?”

“What?! No way!” Lance was completely shocked to be accused of something he promised to not do. “I promised I wouldn’t, remember?” Keith continued to glare at Lance, putting more pressure on him. “Ok I’ll admit it, I was. I’m sorry. It started moving and I just couldn’t help but watch,” Lance admitted all at once, referring to Keith’s tail that was poking up and over his sweatpants.

When the two came back from getting food, Keith decided to change into sweatpants so that he would be ready to go to sleep after Lance left. He also wanted to change because as the day went on, his lower back became more and more sore from forcing his tail to hide down one of his pants legs all day. When he walked out of his bathroom in sweatpants and his tail poking out over the waistband, Lance was really surprised by it and made Keith uncomfortable by staring at it.

“I’m hiding it again!” Keith announced as he started to stand up and head toward the bathroom.

“No! You said it hurts your back when you do that,” Lance stated, showing that he really didn’t want Keith to feel the need to hide what he is. “Listen, I’m really sorry man. It’s just, the ears are one thing, I’m used to seeing that kind of stuff on people with like costumes and stuff. But the tail is completely different. Hell, it moves! It makes this situation more real to me. Does that make any sense?”

“Not really.” Keith admitted as he looked down at Lance from where he stood. “This is my life, so this isn’t new to me. Just the fact that I have to hide it now is new.”

“You’re right. And you shouldn’t have to hide it in your own home. Again, I’m really sorry for staring. I promise I won’t do it again. If I do, then I’ll leave.”

“You’ll leave?” Keith couldn’t really believe Lance’s statement. During the few weeks that they’ve actually been hanging out with each other, getting Lance to leave him alone was next to impossible to do.

“Yep. I’ll grab my stuff and walk right out that door.” Lance then held out his hand with his pinky finger sticking out. “I promise!”

Keith looked at his hand. “What are you doing?”

“It’s a pinky promise. Please tell me you know what that is.”

“I do! It’s just, aren’t you like 16 or something?”

“I’m 18, jerk. Just do it!”

Keith then reluctantly hooked his pinky around Lance’s, rolling his eyes at his stupid grin. “I’m going to grab something to drink. You want anything,” Keith asked before walking across the room to his kitchen corner.

“Sure! What do you have,” Lance asked as he settled back to watching the movie as he finished off his fries.

Keith opened his fridge and instantly frowned. The insides of his refrigerator were scarce. All he had inside was one premade lunch from Val’s wife, a few condiment bottles, half a carton of eggs, and an expired carton of soy milk. “Uh, water from the drain.”

Lance frowned. “Gross. You know how unsanitary that is if you don’t have a filter?”

“Excuse me for being behind on my shopping. Tips have been low with everyone out on the water lately,” Keith said as he closed the door. “Also, the water’s not that bad. I’ve drank from the drain before.”

“Well count me out on that. Before we got our filter, there was a water line burst a few years back and my whole family still got sick even when we waited till the water was deemed safe to drink. After that, I decided that I’m never drinking water again unless it’s been filtered.”

Keith rolled his eyes at Lance’s statement, continuing to be amazed at how high-maintenance he could be. He closed his fridge and went to grab a cup that was sitting beside the sink drying on a hand towel. Keith could hear the movie continued the chase scene with it coming to an end with a loud explosion when he walked back to his spot on the floor. Him and Lance watched the movie in silence for the next few scenes. Keith made a few more comments on the fighting and on how the female lead got on his nerves and unlike earlier, Lance would instantly tell him to be quiet and just to enjoy the experience. They finally reached a part in the movie that was calm and meant to cater to the hopeless romantics in the crowd.

“I thought this was supposed to be an action movie,” Keith spoke out when he started to pick up that the scene they were watching was a love scene. The cliché dialogue and set up was making his stomach turn even though this was most likely his first time seeing a set up like this.

“It is, but Indy always scores in his movies. Except for the fourth movie, he got a kid in that one.” Lance answered, feeling a bit annoyed at the scene for using lines that would never really work.

“I thought you said there were only three movies in the series.”

“Yep.”

“But you just said he got a kid in the fourth movie,” Keith said, feeling more confused about the situation.

“We don’t talk about the fourth movie. It doesn’t exist.” Lance answered again, refusing to admit that the fourth Indiana Jones movie was a real thing.

Keith looked up at Lance, feeling even more confused. “I kind of want to watch it now.” Since they started these movie nights, Lance seemed to like every movie that he suggested. Now that there was a movie that Lance actually didn’t like really interested Keith and made him want to watch it and see why.

“After you finish the first three and I’m not around to watch, maybe I can look you up a free online version for you. I refuse to buy a copy of that disrespectful film.”

There was a knock at the front door of Keith’s apartment that distracted the two from their conversation and look confusingly at it. After a brief moment of silence, there was another knock at the door. The two teens looked at each other, trying to see if one of them had an answer for what was going on.

“Were you expecting someone?” Lance asked, really surprised at the thought that other people besides him and Val’s family knew where Keith lived.

“No. Did you tell someone to come get you or something?” Keith asked as he stood up from the floor, making his tail wrap around his torso under his shirt. The thought that Lance told other people about where he lived really bothered him.

“No, I came here by myself. I didn’t tell anyone about coming. My mom doesn’t even know I’m here.” Lance admitted, wanting to make it clear that he was keeping his promise to keeping to Keith’s pase of socialization. Keith then went to grab his worn, red jacket off the small table in the kitchen and to help hide his tail. He looked around for the beanie he wore during the day and put it on to hide his ears while Lance moved to the edge of the bed and reached for his laptop to pause the movie.

There was another knock at the door. “Come on Keith. I know you’re in there.”

The hair on the back of Keith’s neck stood up when he heard the voice of the person on the other side of the door.

“Keith, you ok buddy?” Lance asked, sensing the tension in the air and feeling concerned for his friend when he saw him freeze.

Keith forced himself back to reality and took a deep breath. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’ll be right back.” He then walked up to the door and unlocked it before hurrying outside.

Lance mumbled an ‘ok’ as he watched Keith hurry out of the apartment, feeling even more concerned about what was going on.

Outside Keith stayed facing his door for a moment, trying to keep himself together before confronting his unwelcomed guest.

“Man, you look like shit,” the mystery person laughed, enjoying Keith’s tense nature.

Keith snapped at their comment and quickly turned around and angrily grabbed at their shirt collar. “What the fuck are you doing here Lotor,” he asked, practically growling under his tone.

Lotor chuckled, finding amusement in Keith’s anger. “What’s the matter? Mad that I ruined your date with your little boyfriend?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just some clarification, it hurt me to write Keith saying mean stuff about my favorite Archaeologist films. But I stand with Lance's views. There's no such thing as a fourth Indiana Jones movie.


	12. Chapter 12

Outside Keith stayed facing his door for a moment, trying to keep himself together before confronting his unwelcomed guest.

“Man, you look like shit,” the mystery person laughed, enjoying Keith’s tense nature.

Keith snapped at their comment and quickly turned around and angrily grabbed at their shirt collar. “What the fuck are you doing here Lotor,” he asked, practically growling under his tone.

Lotor chuckled, finding amusement in Keith’s anger. “What’s the matter? Mad that I ruined your date with your little boyfriend?”

**..::::..::::..::::..**

“Ok, you’re good to go,” and examination doctor instructed as he placed a final band-aid on Keith’s arm. It was physical examination time at the research lab and after what felt like hours of researchers poking and prodding at Keith and testing his physical and mental limitations, it finally came to an end with them taking three vials of his blood and giving him six shots in his arm.

Keith jumped down from the exam table. “Wait a minute,” the researcher spoke out, stopping him before he could walk to the door. “It looks like you’re due for an injection.”

“A what?”

“An injection. You’re almost 16 and your file shows that you’ve never received a depressant injection.” The researcher showed no emotion when he spoke. He closed Keith’s file and walked over to a cabinet in the room.

The word depressant really worried Keith. He knew that the researchers classified him as a possible aggressive subject so he thought the examiner was lying to him just so he could give him something that would make him more submissive. “What does it do?”

“Your body is maturing and you’ll soon be experiencing strong hormonal fluctuations between your human and werecat DNA,” the examiner began to explain as he threw away his latex gloves. He then pulled out a pair of keys to unlock the cabinet door and took out a temperature controlled container. “This depressant will be administered to you twice a year and it will keep your hormones level until we are ready to move you on to the next study group so that there are no complications in your current group.” He opened the container and put on a new pair of gloves before pulling out a chilled syringe that looked different from the usual syringes that Keith gets stuck with. “I’ll insert this into your inner upper arm. Don’t scratch at it or else you’ll irritate the area around it or it may compromise the injection and break the rod too soon, causing you to have a high spike of hormones in your system.”

Keith crossed his arms, unconsciously wanting to hide the targeted areas from the examiner. “What will happen to me if it breaks?” He was hoping that if he asked too many questions, maybe the doctor would mess up and admit the truth.

“You’ll end up in the hospital ward again,” he stated bluntly, reminding Keith about his near life threating fever he had a few months ago that put him there for days. “If your body receives a sudden urge of hormones it could cause either a sudden spike or drop in your natural hormonal system which would result in your body to shut down.”

“You’re saying that this could kill me?!”

“If you mess with it, yes. Now please sit back down so we can finish the examination.” The researcher started to walk back toward Keith carrying the syringe on a sterile utensil tray.

Keith backed up a bit, feeling more nervous about the situation now that he knew that a tiny little thing in his body could kill him. He was faced with two options, fight and risk getting locked back up in isolation or worse, be forced to receive the injection or he could just comply and risk the injection being something completely different from what he’s being told or it be true and possibly die from it.

“Please sit back down on.” The researcher said once again with a bit more irritation in his voice.

Keith stared at him for a moment, still determining his move. He soon decided that complying would be his easiest way out of the situation and hoped back onto the exam table. The researcher put the utensil tray on the exam table a foot away from Keith and then picked up a sterile pad from it so he could disinfect the injection site. “Put out your left arm with the inner side up.” Keith held out his arm but he didn’t rotate it up as a sign of not fully trusting the situation. The researcher looked at his arm, and glared up at Keith for a moment before grabbing it and forcing it to rotate around to how he requested it to be. He rubbed the sterile pad on Keith’s arm, focusing on a spot in the middle of his elbow and armpit. The alcohol was cold to the touch, but it instantly warmed when the application was complete. The examiner placed the used pad beside Keith and picked up the syringe and pulled the cap off with his teeth so that he wouldn’t have to let go of Keith’s arm and infecting the target area. “This is a thicker needle so it will hurt a bit more than normal shots.” The then quickly moved his hold on Keith’s arm from his wrist to his upper arms, gripping it tight so that he can have a better aim for the application site. Keith prepared himself for the expecting pinch of the shot but was not ready for skin ripping pain that the syringe caused. As the examiner pushed the needle in his arm, Keith swallowed a painful cry and tried his best to hold back tears from falling down his face. The sensation didn’t lessen once the actual injection was implemented. Keith’s arm felt as if it was on fire with a million of bugs crawling around inside. Just quickly as it began, the application was over and the researcher pulled the needle out and quickly cover the site with his thumb to momentarily stop the bleeding while he grabbed a small band-aid. The pressure from the researcher’s thumb on the site made the burning and crawling sensation worse for Keith, adding on with the pain of him pressing the hormone capsule against the muscle in his arm. He quickly pealed the adhesive cover off the patch and pressed it on Keith’s arm, not seeming to take his own advice about being cautious of breaking the capsule. “There, done. Now remember, don’t mess with it or else you’ll end up back in the hospital ward,” the examiner warned again, even though he just contradicted himself in a way.

Keith stayed still for a moment, looking down at the new bandage on his arm.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

The dormitory was quiet. Most of the boys were passed out asleep, tired from their physical examinations. Keith was sitting up in his bed with his overhead lamp on, trying to calm his stressed mind by reading a worn-out book he took out of the tiny library in his new dormitory building. Once his study group was deemed old enough, they were all transferred over to a research lab that was further away from the center of the compound. The new location felt more isolated even when Keith was in a room full of people he grew up with. During his time acclimating, he traded his hoppy of staring out his window at the homes of the pure-bred families to reading books that would make his imagination travel to anywhere that wasn’t wear he was.

After reading the same paragraph for the fifth time, Keith closed his book out of frustration with a huff. He looked around the room, trying to find something new to focus on but couldn’t. He couldn’t get his mind off the reason for his stress while it was still burning inside him. Keith rubbed at his arm, being sure to stay away from where he received his shot a few hours earlier. The area around the injection still burned, but it was more subdued now than it was before.

Keith’s bed creaked when the mattress dipped after having extra weight put on it. “Am I seeing things? Did little Keith finally get an injection?”

Keith angrily cut his eyes away from the patch on his arm and up at his unwelcomed guest. “Go away Lotor.”

“Hey, I’m not here to fight. I’m just as bored as you are.” Lotor admitted as he picked up his legs and crossed them on Keith’s bed so that he could sit in front of him. “So, does your arm still burn?”

Keith kept his guard up. He knew that whenever Lotor talked to him, there was an ulterior motive behind it. “Why would you care?”

“I’m just curious. You keep looking at it like it does.” Lotor rolled his eyes at Keith’s defensive nature. Everyone else was asleep so there was no need for him to reinstate his status as the alpha of the group. Keith stayed quiet, not really wanting to talk to the one person he hated most. Lotor groan out of annoyance as he threw his head back after seeing Keith quickly eye at his bandage again. “It’s not a tracker or behavioral thing you paranoid fuck!”

“Well then if you’re so smart, then what is it?” Keith asked, growing even more annoyed and angry after Lotor’s insult.

“It’s what the doctor told you it was.”

“How would you know?”

“Because I have one too you idiot!” Lotor stated as he lifted his left arm and pushed up on a spot around the same area where Keith received his injection. On his dark skin, Keith could see a small bump poking up from he was pushing on his arm. “They gave me a mine a few years ago. It’s harmless.”

Keith looked at Lotor’s arm till he dropped it back to his lap. “What does it do then?”

“It keeps you from screwing people,” Lotor said bluntly. Keith was a bit confused by his statement and he could tell. Lotor groan in annoyance again as he ran his hands through his short white hair. He usually kept a calm and calculated demeanor, but Keith’s constant speculation of things easily annoyed him. “Look, I’ve only seen this happen once, but apparently a couple years after we’ve matured, we go through a heat cycle just like regular animals do. I snuck out one night a saw the coats watching two people go through it.” Lotor paused for a moment, blushing slightly as he remembered the event. “It was pretty intense.” He paused again, feeling both slightly horrified and embarrassed about what he saw. He then realized that he was quiet long enough to make Keith ask him more questions. “But anyway, they don’t want us to go through it whenever. Instead, like the coat you saw should’ve told you, they made these things to put in us to control our hormones so it doesn’t happen till they pick someone for us.”

“Pick someone for what?” Even though Keith was old enough now to understand what his life would be like as a werecat, there were still some things the researcher decided to keep quiet from each person they studied till the time came for it.

“To screw and have kids with so that they can study them. It’s not like they’re going to keep us like this forever.” Lotor said bluntly before he explained what he knew further. “Soon they’ll pair us with some girl from the other groups, put us together with them when we go through our cycles, and then we get them pregnant. Once the babies are born they’ll either let you keep it or they take it away and it grows up like us, with a new group of orphaned kids.” He paused to think for a moment. “Considering how you came here, I doubt they would let you keep yours. Hell, I even doubt they’ll breed you off. It’s not every day that a half-human, half-werecat is born.”

**..::::..::::..::::..**

Keith pushed Lotor harder against the railing, not shying away from the idea of pushing him over the edge. “Answer me you arrogant prick!”

Lotor let out a harsh grunt when Keith shoved him against the railing. “Can’t an old friend visit another old friend?”

“We were never friends,” Keith answered sternly. “How did you even find me?”

Lotor chuckled. “Really? Your ears are out. I could smell you a mile away.”

Keith tightened his grip on Lotor’s shirt and pushed on him harder, making Lotor lose his footing a bit when he was pushed back too far. “Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t just push you over right now?”

Lotor smirk and accepted the challenge. “Well, there’s a chance I could survive and a chance I might die. Either one will give you problems because the cops will surely get involved and find out it was you. Then once they take you in and do a blood test, they’ll find out what you are and send you back to a lab where you’ll be put down instantly.”

Keith gritted his teeth at the thought of Lotor still being able to ruin his life whether he was dead or alive. He angrily let go of Lotor’s shirt and stepped back. “Leave.”

“What? I just got here though.” Lotor pretended to feel hurt, but Keith knew it was all an act. “Aren’t you going to invite me in and introduce me to your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend and no you can’t go in.”

Lotor frowned as he pushed a loose strand that fell out of his long ponytail behind his ear. “Too bad. He’s cute and has a nice laugh. I would date him if I was interested in that sort of thing.”

Keith’s attention perked at his comment. “Have you been following me?”

Lotor looked down at Keith, smirking when he noticed that he wasn’t as clueless as he used to be. “No. You two passed by me a few hours ago, that’s when I figured that you lived here. You’ve noticed if you weren’t wearing that mask you had on. Does he know about you?”

“That’s none of your business, now leave! There’s no reason for you to be here.”

“That’s where you’re wrong Keith.” Lotor smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “Your ears are out, which means you’re going to be in trouble soon and I need a favor.”

“I’m not giving you any favors and I can take care of myself.” Keith turned away to hurry back inside his apartment.

“You still owe me for getting you out of the lab, remember?” Lotor spoke out, making Keith stop in his tracks right as he touched the door knob. “That means you owe me a favor Keith, a pretty big one I might add.” Keith stayed facing his door, not sure if he should walk-in and ignore him or stay and listen to what he had to say. Lotor smirked, feeling proud of himself for still having some kind of control over his old dormmate. “The favor involves some cash and judging by your living arrangements, you could use some. You help me with this I’ll give you a cut and return another favor for free.”

Keith thought about the offer for a moment. The extra money would be good for him to have to help his goal of fully starting over. But it was a favor with Lotor, which anything involving him never worked in Keith’s favor.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

_What the hell! I can’t hear a thing!_ Lance thought to himself as he pressed his ear against the front door. _How did that guy’s voice come through so clearly, but it’s all muffled now?_ He pressed his ear harder against the door, hoping that it would help but it didn’t.

Shortly after Keith stepped outside, Lance struggled on whether to eavesdrop on their conversation or not. He knew that if Keith found out that he was poking in on something private in his life, their friendship would be over, but his worry for his friend was just too much. He couldn’t stop thinking about how pale Keith looked when he heard the mystery man call out for him outside. That was the reason why Lance was in the position that he was in now, huddled over and trying to fuse himself together with the door.

The door knob started to turn and the hair on the back of Lance’s neck spiked as his adrenaline started to pulse. In a flash, he hurried over to Keith’s bathroom to hide, hoping that he wouldn’t be caught snooping. He closed and leaned against the door as he caught his breath.

“Lance,” Keith called out after closing the front door.

Lance panicked slightly when Keith called his name. “Uh, I’m in the bathroom,” he called back as he tried to find the light switch to the bathroom, “I shouldn’t have gotten the extra fries.”

“Ok. Do you want me to wait for you before restarting the movie?”

“No, you go ahead.” Lance waited till he heard the movie resume before he let himself breathe again. He took the moment to look around the bathroom, finding it to be just as sad and empty as the rest of the apartment. There was a single person sink next to him, next to that was a toilet that had just enough space for someone to sit on it without rubbing elbows with the sink and single shower. The color was a drab yellowish cream that looked dirty under its current lighting situation. Across from the toilet was a towel rack with only one towel hanging on it and over on the sink was a single tooth brush and toothpaste in a cup and a few hair ties scattered in a corner. _Why is all his stuff so sad and pathetic?_

Lance flushed the toilet to sell his bluff and quickly washed his hands before walking out. He looked over and saw that Keith was back on his spot on the floor, watching the movie as it came to the climactic ending. “You ok,” Lance asked, wanting to be sure that Keith wasn’t still rattled from the mystery guest.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keith mumbled back, focusing in on the movie. He had taken off his beanie and jacket, freeing his ears and tail from their hiding places.

“You sure,” Lance asked again as he walked back to his spot. “I know you don’t like it when I pry, but you just seemed a bit shaken up earlier.”

“I’m fine, really. It was just one of the old man’s-.”

“Val,” Lance interrupted.

“Whatever,” Keith said with a shrug, “It was just one of his regulars that came by to say that he left something in the shop. We walked down there, I gave him his stuff and he left. I was just surprised that someone actually came by.”

Lance didn’t really believe that answer, but he chose to accept it for the time being. He remained quiet throughout the rest of the ending scene of the movie, the sounds of all the antagonists’ screams from them being killed off by the power of God made the room feel like the two teens were in a different world. Within a few minutes after the intense screams of agony, the movie became more relaxed as it led to its mysterious ending.

As the credits rolled over the screen, Lance looked down at Keith. “Keith, have you ever gone camping before?”

Keith looked up at him a bit confused. “In a way, I guess. I slept outside a lot after I left the lab.”

“No idiot, not like that,” Lance said as he rolled his eyes. “I mean like go out into the woods with friends and go hiking or swimming in the lake during the day and staying in a cabin or tent at night.”

“Then no. Why are you asking?”

“Well,” Lance started, mentally preparing himself for a rejection, “one of my friends’ brother came back home from college and every time he does, we all go out to their family cabin and camp out there for a weekend. I know you’re not interested in socializing with other people right now, but I was wondering if you would like to go with us. It would be with the same people you saw me with the first time I came by the shop and Matt brought a friend from school with him this time so you won’t be the only new person in the group. You don’t have to go though, especially since you’re going through something right now with your ears and stuff, but if you want to go I won’t make you stay the whole time if you-.”

“I’ll go,” Keith said, interrupting Lance’s rambling. He then pushed himself on his knees and grabbed Lance’s laptop off the chair it was sitting on. “What’s the next movie called,” he asked as he exited out the full screen feature and made it back to the menu to search for a new movie.

“Uh, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” Lanced answered, a bit confused about the situation. “So, you want to go camping with me and my friends?”

“Yeah, I said I’ll go. Did you not hear me?” Keith asked as he looked back at Lance, looking a bit confused.

“Yeah, just a bit surprised that you agreed so easily.”

Keith shrugged his shoulders as he went back to start the new movie. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ve had to sleep outside before, so I’m sort of interested to see what it’s like with all that extra stuff you mentioned.”

“Oh, ok then. I guess I’ll let you know when we plan a date then.” Lance didn’t really know how to feel about the situation. He was happy that Keith agreed to go with them, but he was also worried that his sudden shift in mood had something to do with whatever happened with the mystery guy earlier. But most of all, he was really excited to introduce Keith to his best friends and for them to hopefully get along.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, sorry it took me so long to update. I ran into a block and some personal things and they took me some time to get through it all. Luckily, thanks to my block and the wonderful suggestions some of y'all gave me, I have a new Klance fic I'm working on. But to be nice to everyone, I'm not going to post it till I have a few of the chapters done first. Anyway, thank you again for your patience. I really do love you all for it. I hope you enjoy the update!

Keith shrugged his shoulders as he went back to start the new movie. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. I’ve had to sleep outside before, so I’m sort of interested to see what it’s like with all that extra stuff you mentioned.”

“Oh, ok then. I guess I’ll let you know when we plan a date then.” Lance didn’t really know how to feel about the situation. He was happy that Keith agreed to go with them, but he was also worried that his sudden shift in mood had something to do with whatever happened with the mystery guy earlier. But most of all, he was really excited to introduce Keith to his best friends and for them to hopefully get along.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

“Water bottle?”

“Check!”

“Swimsuit?”

“Check!”

“Boots?”

“Check!”

Lance was sitting on the floor of his bedroom, packing a large sized duffle bag with items that his baby sister Lillian read off for him as she bounced and paced back and forth on his bed. Never too far from his twin, Aiden was in the room as well lying on the floor playing on his games that were saved on Lance’s phone. The time had finally come for the anticipated camping trip Lance always took with his friends. The news came out after Matt added his friend Shiro in their group text earlier that week:

**\-----**

**Twin:** THE TIME IS NOW BITCHES!!! WE RAID THE CABIN THIS FRIDAY AND PROTECT THE TERRITORY TILL SUNRISE SUNDAY!!! BRING SUPPLIES TO SURVIVE OR PERISH!!!!! (*•̀ᴗ•́*)و ̑̑

**Nugget:** What the nerd is trying to say, camping trip is this weekend. We’ll leave Friday morning, someone’s going to have to drive a second car since we have two extra people. Also, Matt will do a piss poor job with grocery shopping for the trip, so bring food or else you’ll starve from his cooking.

**Twin:** Sounded better the way I said it. （；¬＿¬)

**Princess:** I can be the second driver.

**Twin:** Thank you!!! You’re so sweet!! ( ˘ ³˘)❤

**Princess:** Lance, do you want me to pick you and your friend up since you said he lives near the docks? You two would be on my way to the cabin.

**Me:** Yeah that would be great! Just let me know when you’re on your way and I’ll meet you on the end of my street and I’ll tell you where to go.

**Twin:** Wait a minute Allura, you can’t drive Lance! We need you to help us grocery shop on the way!! You always know what to get!!

**BFAM:** You guys want me to make some snacks?

**BFAM:** (￣ω￣) You jelly there Matt?

**Nugget:** So jelly! (￣︶￣)

**Nugget:** MAKE ME PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES!!!!

**Me:** I’m sure with the others with you, you’ll do fine with the shopping Matt.

**Me:** Hunk can you make me some of your awesome chocolate chip cookies??????? Like a lot please??????????????? (ˆ ڡ ˆ)

**Twin:** No! We definitely need Allura’s help! Please Allura! I can borrow my mom’s car and Shiro can pick up Lance and his friend!!

**Princess:** Sorry, Coran already said I could borrow a car. Also, it would be rude to have Shiro stress over driving around an area he isn’t familiar with to pick up Lance and another new member to our group.

**Me:** She has a valid point Matt!! Accept it!!! (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)و

**Unknown Number:** Matt threw his phone and can’t seem to find it. I’m ok with driving, as long as I have an address to put in my GPS. I wouldn’t mind helping out and driving people to the cabin. He keeps saying that you need to go shopping with him.

**Nugget:** Is that what that loud noise was? I thought he exploded or something. Tell him I’m not fixing his phone again!!

**Nugget:** But seriously, don’t spoil him Shiro. He’s about to graduate and needs to grow up. We’re sticking to the original plan and Allura will be our second driver.

**BFAM:** Will do Pidge! And only if you promise not to hog them all to yourself Lance! Also I can cook for us this weekend. You know, so that we don’t die and I’ll already be with Matt at the store on our way.

**Me:** I PROMISE!!!! JUST MAKE ME MY OWN EXTRA-LARGE BAG FULL OF COOKIES PLEASE!!!! Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

**\-----**

Throughout the whole week, the group chat was lively with all the planning and excitement for the trip. Lance was able to get a better idea about Matt’s friend Shiro through his messages and decided that he would definitely make a great addition to their group. Even though he seemed to have an obvious ‘dad-friend’ personality, Shiro knew how to keep up with everyone and was really good at picking on Matt whenever he would over react in the chat. But he also seemed to overly spoil his college friend so much that it would annoy Pidge to the point of calling them out in the chat and complain about them at school.

This weekend was going to be really exciting with the two new additions to the group. But even though he was really excited, Lance was still a bit worried about Keith and how he was feeling. After telling him about the trip date, Lance continued texting Keith all week about the trip and to see if he wanted in the group. But there was never a response to any of his updates. Lance was at the point where even one of Keith’s ‘ok’s or ‘leave me alone’s would make him feel better. But he only seemed to talk to himself in their conversation.

But Lance couldn’t wallow in his worries anymore. Allura was coming by to pick him for the camping trip and he needed  to hurry and finish packing. He stuffed his phone charger and bathroom bag into the bag and sat back on his hands, looking around for anything he might have missed.

“Did we check off everything Lilly-Bean?” Lance as he looked up at his litter sister.

Lillian did a couple of tiny bounces across her brother’s bed, reading through the list once more. “Um, boxers?”

“Oh yeah, I’m gonna need those.” Lance was amazed that he forgot the most necessary of necessities. He eyed his little brother and decided to put the lazy gamer to work. “Aiden, can you get me three pairs of boxers?”

“Do they need to be clean?” Aiden asked, refusing to look away from the match-three game he was playing on Lance’s phone.

Lillian shrieked out a long ‘ew’ as she looked horrified and disgusted at her brothers.

Lance dropped his head in disappointment, wondering how Aiden could be so antihygienic even though some many members in the family took pride in their personal hygiene. “Clean obviously!”

“Ok, I was just asking.” Aiden smarted off as he rolled off his back and stood to go dig through the dresser in Lance’s closet.

“I thought we fixed his dirty boxer issues?” Lance asked as he turned and looked at his baby sister.

“That’s mamá’s job to check, not mine.” Lillian sassed back as she continued to bounce on Lance’s bed, her attitude feeding from her twin.

**..::::..::::..::::..**

“It’s this building right there.” Lance spoke out as he pointed at the building that Keith lived in, signaling Allura to stop. Lance usually would walk to Keith’s apartment, so driving was a completely different experience. If he didn’t have his GPS app they surely would’ve gotten lost on the way. Allura turned down the car-friendly alley to let Lance out and turn the car around while Lance went to get Keith.

Walking up to Keith’s building in a different direction was a completely new experience, but a fun experience at the same time. It was a good start for their camping trip. New friends, new experiences, and a new route. The weekend was going to be great and everyone was going to get along.

Well, that was what Lance thought before Keith opened his door.

“What?” Keith answered irritably as he stared at Lance with dead eyes, looking as if he hadn’t slept for days. He had his red hood up, obviously still trying to hide his ears, and if his ears were still out, then his tail was definitely out as well hiding somewhere under his clothes. It’s been almost a week and a half since Lance had seen Keith and the fact that his ears and tail were still out made him worry, but not as much as Keith’s new appearance did. His lip was healing from a split, there was a Band-Aid patch over his left cheekbone, and his right eye and a dark, slowly healing bruise under it. He looked like crap, and Lance let him know it before he could stop himself.

“You look like shit.”

Keith’s frown deepened. “I’ve had a rough week,” he said through gritted teeth.

Lance gathered himself, switching his brain from auto piolet to concern because, well he was concerned. He was standing on his friend’s front landing with him looking like he went to Hell and back. “No! What I meant was… are you ok?”

“If I look shit, I’m obviously not ok.” Keith responded, spitting Lance’s words right back at him.

“If you mind me asking, what happened to you?”

Keith answered right away, as if he was asked that question several times before. “I went to Rufus’s and got in a fight with a drunk when he was kicking people out after Last Call.”

“And your,” Lance started as he pointed to the top of his own head, motioning for what he was questioning about.

“Yep. Still there. Are we leaving for the trip?” Keith asked, wanting to get the topic off him and for Lance to stop asking him about his horrible week.

“Oh, yeah! Allura’s down in the car waiting for us,” Lance said he threw his thumb over his shoulder to loosely point in his friend’s direction. “But, you don’t have to go if you don’t want to anymore.”

“I’m going.” Keith stepped back from the doorway to walk back in his apartment, grabbing his keys off the kitchen table.

“Ok, well if you want we can run and get you some first-aid stuff at the convenience store first. You know, in case you’ll need it.”

“I’m fine. The old man gave me the shop’s first-aid kit to use after the fight happened.” Keith walked over to his bed and grabbed his small, worn-out duffle bag. While he was picking up the bag, Lance notice that Keith had at least one of his hand wrapped in a wrap bandage as well. He soon confirmed that both his hands were wrapped.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stop by the store and get you some things,” Lance suggested, his concerns turning into a heavy weight in his stomach. “I know we’re all bringing our own things, but I would rather be safe and make sure you have what you need to get better.”

“Already have it,” Keith answered flatly as he walked past Lance, slightly pushing him out of his way so he could lock his door. Once the apartment door was locked, he started down the stairs without Lance. “Which friend did you say was waiting for us?”

Lance hurried to catch up to Keith, the previous movements happening so fast that they threw him off a few beats. “Oh, Allura,” he answered as he practically bounced down the stairs. “We were going to take one car at first, but Matt invited someone from his school as well and still needed to get the groceries. So Allura offered to ask her uncle if she could borrow a car and pick us up.”

“Wait,” Keith paused for a moment, “why does that name sound familiar?”

“Because after you first meant her, you asked me questions about her thinking that she was weird.”

“Oh,” Keith said, sounding a bit discouraged about being stuck in a car with someone that gave him a bad feeling.

“Look Keith, buddy,” Lance wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulders, both for support and to direct him to the car. “Allura is a wonderful person. You have nothing to worry about, trust me.”

While walking back to the car, Lance kept his arm around Keith’s shoulders so that he wouldn’t back out last minute. To clear the tension, he tried to pick on Keith for only having one bag for the weekend while everyone else pretty much were bring two bags. The bantering seemed to relax Keith a bit and make him forget about his week-long bad luck, but his natural tension came back when they finally walked up to the car. Allura had the car parked down the street just outside the alleyway, she smiled and waved to the two boys as they walked toward the car.

“Hello! I’m Allura. It’s so nice to meet you.” Allura held her hand out for Keith, but soon faltered, most likely because of his appearance. With the hood, messy hair, split lip, black eye, and Band-Aid patch trying to cover the bruise on his cheek Keith looked really intimidating, even with Lance walking with his arm around him.

Lance picked up Allura’s slight change in demeanor and went in defense mode for both of his friends to keep the mood light. “He had a bad week.” Lance explained quickly, letting go of Keith’s shoulders to give the two space and do the proper ‘hello’s. “Give me your bag,” Lance said as if to ask, but just took the strap off of Keith’s shoulder before getting a response. “I’ll throw it in the back with the rest.”

An awkward silence settled over Keith and Allura, the slight surge of uncomfortable fear washed over Keith just like it did the first time he was near the teenager, but much stronger this time with his heightened senses. Allura seemed to be unsettled as well. She was finally meeting the mysterious friend that Lance had told her about all week and now that he was standing right in front of her, first impressions were definitely made and will be remembered.

Allura cleared her throat to try and easy the tension. “I’m uh, I’m sorry to hear you had a bed week,” she said with her polite smile on her face.

Keith shrugged, trying his best to avoid her eyes. “They happen now and then.” His hands were sweaty inside his jacket pockets and his nerves were buzzing so much they made his legs and neck hurt.

“Well, at least you can have the entire back seat to yourself to relax.”

_How am I going to relax while being stuck in a car with you?!_ “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

“Ok! Let’s get going on the best weekend on our young lives!” Lance announced from the back of the car, rushing to his seat in the front. He could hear his friends’ short and sad conversation and felt so bad that he knew that he had to end it early. He knew Keith would be closed off to everyone at first or maybe the whole weekend, but he never knew Allura to be just as hesitant. Did Keith’s appearance really scare her that much? Or was there something else going on?

The three teens all gathered in the car, Allura in the driver seat, Lance next to her in the front, and Keith in the back at first hugging the passenger side and then relaxing and spreading out and bit more a few minutes into the drive. Lance had control of the car’s AUX cord and was playing a mix of modern and past hit music of all genres, occasionally changing it whenever he itched for a certain song or if Allura made a request.

“So, um Keith,” Allura spoke up, feeling bad that her and Lance were practically ignoring him for the past 20 minutes. “Lance told me on the way to your place that we actually met before. I’m sorry for not remembering.”

“It’s ok, he had to remind me too. I was working and don’t usually remember faces unless they’re a regular customer.” Keith shrugged, his emotions back on high alert after being disturbed from his little world in the back seat.

“Oh, well then, do you know my Uncle Coran by chance?” Allura tried to look back at Keith through the rearview mirror, but was only met with headrest and back window beside him. “He was the one that recommended that we all visit your little shop.”

Keith thought for a moment. The name sounded familiar, but he was struggling with a solid image. “Does he have a mustache and likes to talk a lot?”

“Yes, that’s him! I figured by the way he talked about that little shack, he only visited when in the area. I had no idea he was a regular.”

“He’s not really a regular, but the old man likes it when he visits. He always orders a milkshake when he comes and tells me to surprise him with the flavor, even though we only have the basic three flavors.” Keith thought back at the few times Coran had stopped by the shop. “He’s a bit weird,” he said, voicing all his thoughts of when Coran visited the shop.

“Keith!” Lance was shocked that he would say something insulting so quickly into the conversation. Well, at least say something insulting to Allura about her Uncle who was a customer of his.

Allura laughed and waved her hand at Lance to signal for him to calm down. “It’s ok, Keith’s right. Coran never knows when to dial it down. He loves to meet people and that makes his personality too much to handle to whoever he targets.”

Lance couldn’t help but smile at her. Allura could always find the best in people and that was one of the things that he just loved about her. She was so supportive, positive, smart, brave, and always made Lance want to do better and live his best life. Even though he had constantly dubbed Hunk as his best friend, that was only time-wise whereas Allura was his best friend emotionally-wise. She knew a lot about him and his struggles and was open to listen to him. Even when he asked her out and she turned him down, Lance left not broken hearted, but hopeful for the future and happy to have her as a friend.

Feeding off on his new-found excitement, Lance turned in his seat to look back at Keith and hand him his phone. “Pick a song.”

Keith looked at Lance’s iPhone a bit confused, but took it anyway, not wanting to give away that anything was off to Allura. He scrolled through the music list, not really knowing any of the songs on the list. Had he ever even listen to music? Val would usually leave the kitchen radio playing during breakfast and lunch, but he played mostly talk shows instead of actual music. Rufus always had music playing at his bar, but it was only on the second level during his bar’s afterhours and it would always sound muffled on the main floor. He eventually stopped scrolling when he reached a song with an album art that looked familiar to him. He wasn’t sure where he saw the work from or why the artist of the cover looked familiar to him, but he picked it.

The strum of a guitar started to play on the stereo system, and Keith could feel his cheeks heat with regret for making the decision. It was completely different from what Lance and Allura had been playing. He ended up picking a very, drunk at the bar kind of party country song that started off meaningful but would eventually build up to something the drunks could easily sing to. He could feel Lance stare at him as he handed the phone back to him, the feeling making him wish he could just disappear.

“Country? Really?” Lance asked, greatly surprised at the pick.

“I recognized the album.” Keith responded shyly, sinking a bit more into the seat, wishing he could just open the door and roll out onto the highway they were on and be ran over by the 18-wheeler behind them. “Got a problem with it,” he asked, trying to keep up what little dignity he had left.

“No, just pined you more to be an alternative or emo band kind of guy.”

“What did he pick?” Allura asked, not really familiar with country music since she considered herself to be more of a classical and pop girl.

“ _[Friends in Low Places](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0_der_5hRM)_  by Garth Brooks,” Lance answered as he continued to find the new discovery about Keith funny.

As weird as it was, the song worked for Keith in a just as weird way. Like in a weird, hard to explain way. It just worked and made sense to Lance and he accepted it as he let the song play.


	14. Chapter 14

_This was a bad idea._  Keith pulled his hood down a bit. _They keep staring at me. Can they see my ears? I knew I shouldn’t have came._

Keith was sitting on the cabin’s front porch steps. The drive up to the was long and a bit suffocating. His nerves were constantly on alert and when he tried to sleep, he never could never fully lose consciousness because of his biggest concern sitting in the driver seat. After spending almost 2 hours in the car with her, Allura did seem to be a nice person but Keith’s senses were still telling him to keep his guard up around her. Their car was the first to arrive to the cabin and the three dropped their bags off on the front porch before Lance and Allura left to go adventuring around the property, hoping to find a key to get inside, but mostly to just walk around and reminisce about their past trips there. The others soon arrived the cabin, bringing with them loud cheers of ‘hello’s and friendly bickering. Keith stayed seated on the cabin steps as he observed their interactions, feeling out of place in all the familiarity.

After making his rounds with everyone, Lance noticed that Keith was still sitting on the porch where he and Allura left him earlier. He quickly ran over and grabbed Keith to make him at least say hello and introduce himself to everyone. Lance’s excitement made him do the introduction for Keith, revealing that he was this mystery guy he had been hanging out with lately and that he was in rough shape due to having a bad week.

Keith took in each of Lance’s friends as they all introduced themselves.

Hunk was a big guy with a friendly personality that was much gentler than Lance’s personality. Lance told him that he was the natural cook with a talent for baking in their group and was going to feed everyone over the weekend. The thought of finally eating something other than fries, burgers, and the occasional cat food made Keith’s stomach jump for joy and he decided that Hunk was a good person and could trust him.

Pidge was the smallest and youngest of the group and her and her older brother Matt made Keith wonder if he was seeing double. He had met siblings before, but never had he met a set that were so different in age and practically look identical. Matt seemed to be just like Lance – energetic, naturally kind, and overly confident. The thought of spending the weekend with two Lances made Keith mentally exhausted and regret his decision. Pidge, on the other hand, was different from her older brother. First, Keith found out her name wasn’t really Pidge – it was Katie. Pidge was just a nickname Matt gave her that stuck as she got older. She was very smart and her sharp and sarcastic personality showed it. Keith found her attitude a bit entertaining, especially when she targeted her brother or Lance, but her intelligence made him worry that if he wasn’t careful around her, his secret would be found out.

Shiro, Matt’s guest on the trip, made Keith feel a little less out of place in the group. He seemed to be just as new to the entire dynamic as Keith was and it was a refreshing feeling. Shiro was a big guy and seemed to dwarf Matt in comparison, making Keith wonder how the two ever became friends to begin with. He was quiet, but seemed to act a lot older than he was. He acted as the mediator between the Holt siblings and was repeatedly accused of ‘babying’ Matt by his younger sister whenever he played the role. Keith couldn’t really get a clear reading on him during their interdictions since he kept his distance from everyone as well, but Keith chose to keep his guard up around him as well.

“Ok, now that we’re all settled, let’s discuss rooms!” Matt announced after dropping his bag in the middle of the cabin’s living room.

The cabin was just like any cabin in the woods on the outside, but on the inside, it was completely different. The giant floor-to-ceiling window in the living room let in a lot of natural light into the space – lighting up the living room, kitchen, and dining area. Lance mentioned to Keith that the cabin only had three bedrooms, so he was prepared to spend the weekend cramped in a tiny space with six other people. But there was surprisingly a lot of room to spare, enough to have a dining table that could seat eight people, a kitchen island that can seat four, and a U-shaped sectional sofa.

“You mean you guys have to discuss rooms.” Pidge said as she walked past the group toward the rooms.

Allura started to follow behind her. “Pidge and I will take one of the bunk rooms so one of you won’t have to sleep on the couch alone.” Down the hall, the group could hear a loud, frustrated groan from Pidge. “Don’t worry about her, she’ll get over it,” Allura smiled as she waved bye to everyone.

Keith looked over at Lance, showing that he was confused on why Pidge was upset about the situation.

“The girls usually get the bigger room so that they have their own bathroom and Pidge likes it because when Matt’s home, she has to share hers with him.” Lance answered, finding Pidge’s frustrations entertaining.

“Ok, so with them settled we just need to figure out how we’ll divide up,” Matt started as he sat on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island. “Hunk, do you want to take the master with Lance and Keith since you two usually room together?”

Before Hunk could answer, Lance spoke up. “Actually, I was going to suggest that Keith and I take the other bunk room and you three take the master.” He looked over at Hunk and instantly felt like he hurt his best friend’s feelings in some way. “No offense to you Hunk! It’s just that this guy takes a really long time to warm up to people and it would just make better sense if just me and him room together!”

“What?! Don’t put the blame on me!” Keith protested, a vast contrast from his quiet and secluded personality that everyone saw earlier during the introductions. Lance obviously knew how to push at his buttons.

Hunk smiled and tried his best not to burst out laughing. “It’s ok Lance! I was actually going to suggest the same thing since you two seem to be comfortable by yourselves.”

“Yeah, I was kind of thinking that too, but I still wanted to ask and see,” Matt added with a proud smirk on his face. “That settles it then! Lance and Keith take the open bunk room and me, Shiro, and Hunk will share the master bedroom!”

“Awesome,” Lance beamed with his usual wide smile. “Come one Keith! Grab your sad bag and I’ll show you the room.”

“Quit calling it sad!” Keith yelled back as he reluctantly followed Lance toward the hallway.

The leftover teens stayed in the main area of the cabin and just watched as the two disappeared into the hallway.

“Do you still think it’s a good idea to let them have a room alone?” Matt asked bluntly once he felt he would be out of earshot from Lance and Keith.

“Yeah, I think so. They seem to get along well and Lance is obviously protective of him. Also, Allura said they looked to be pretty close when she met Keith. Lance had his arm around him and everything.” Hunk replied, brushing off the situation and turning his focus on unpacking the groceries and thinking of what he was going to cook for dinner. “I call the pull-out mattress by the way.”

“Ok,” Matt sighed. “But if I hear them doing it, I’m sending Shiro to break it up.”

The comment completely caught Shiro off guard. “Why would you send me?”

“Because you’re the oldest,” Matt replied frankly with a shrug.

“Not anymore. If someone ask, I’m six.”

“Damn you and that Leap Year crap,” Matt yelled back, frustrated that Shiro was technically right about really being the youngest. Leaving Matt as the oldest and in charge of making everyone behave.

Down the hallway Lance led the way to the two small bedrooms towards the back of the cabin. The walls were dotted with obvious camping themed decorations with a stray Holt family picture on the wall and end table that showed off their previous trips to the cabin. Halfway down the hallway was a stray door that Lance had noted as being the shared bathroom for the bedrooms that were at the very end. The doors faced each other, one being open and the other closed. Behind the closed door, as the boys got closer they could hear muffled music playing along with the sounds of Allura and Pidge talking, the conversation running along the lines of Pidge not wanting to share a bathroom with Matt or Lance. It will be a long night for Allura when Pidge finds out that her hopes were shattered.

Lance quickly walked through the opened door and threw his bag next to the dresser. “You want top or bottom?”

“What?” Coming back to reality after unintentionally eavesdropping on the girls’ conversation, Keith quickly walked in the room as well.

“Top or bottom bunk?” Lance asked again, laughing a little at how easily distracted Keith has been since arriving at the cabin.

Keith looked around the room and saw why everyone called this and the girls’ rooms the ‘bunk rooms.’ The room was simple and half the size of his apartment with a bunk bed perfectly pushed into a cut-out nook in one of the walls. There was a nightstand next to the head of the lower bunk and a ladder at the foot leading up to the upper bunk. Across from the beds was a single, four-drawer dresser with a mirror hanging on the wall above it.

“Does it really matter,” Keith asked, not sure why the decision on which bed he picked was important. A bed was a bed to him. Just because they were stacked on top of each other didn’t seem to make them any more special to him.

“It does if you’re picky on your sleeping situation. Heat rises so the top usually get hot at night and the bottom gets cold. But also, if you roll around in your sleep, the bottom would be a better choice so if you fall off, it won’t be that far.”

Bunk beds were now Keith’s favorite type of bed. “I’ll take the top,” Keith announced as he hurried over to throw his bag on the top bunk. The promise and good food and a naturally warm bed to sleep in started to make him really happy he came on this trip.

As Keith climbed up the ladder to settle in on his bed for the weekend, Lance walked over and closed the door. “I hope you’re ok with sharing a room. I know I probably should’ve talked to you about it sooner, but I just figured that it would be easier for you with your situation.” Lance went over to his bag and started to unpack his belonging into two of the drawers in the dresser.

Keith looked down at him from the top bunk, a bit confused on what he meant. Then it hit him. Keith’s ears were out. Lance had arranged it to where he could stay in a secure room, with someone who he didn’t have to worry about hiding them from, and he even let him pick a bed that he would be more comfortable in. “Uh, thanks man. I really appreciate it,” Keith said as he pushed his hood down, releasing his ears that had gone slightly numb from being forced down for so long. “But are you sure your friend Hunk won’t get a little jealous? Didn’t Matt say that you two usually shared a room?”

“Hunk won’t get jealous, he said he was going to suggest the same remember,” Lance said as he finished unpacking. “He’s a nice guy and rarely ever gets angry,” Lance explained, putting his childhood friend in a good light like he always does. He then pulled out his bathroom bag and started to go through it, deciding on what could stay in the room and what needed to go to the bathroom. “Oh, I also packed some Advil in case your ears or tail start to hurt you while hiding them, so feel free to take some if you need to.”

Keith said his thanks to Lance, deciding to leave the conversation where it was instead of questioning his choices further. He started to dig through his duffle bag as well, wanting to pull out the small first aid kit he had brought along. Keith had only brought the basics for the weekend, which made him look severely under packed compared to the others. But he didn’t really own much to begin with, so the idea of only bringing two shirts, a pair of pants and sweatpants, boxers, and the basic bathroom supplies seemed like a practical thing to do.

“So, what did you think of everyone?” Lance asked, breaking Keith out of his concentration of unwrapping one of his hands.

Keith picked up his head to look at Lance, but he was nowhere to be seen in the room. There was only one door in the room and it led to the hallway and no real hiding places in the room. Keith then felt a slight nudge on the mattress he was sitting on come from below.

“Earth to Keith! Can you hear me up there in space?” Lance called out with another nudge on Keith’s mattress.

Keith crawled over to the top bunk railing and leaned over to look underneath him. Lance was lying down on the bottom bunk, kicking up at Keith’s mattress, waiting for him to respond. He looked over when he could feel Keith’s eyes on him and stopped kicking. Without thinking, Lance chuckled at the sight of Keith looking at him from the top bunk, his ears and hair hanging down and making him look like a curious kitten from a funny cat video. “So, did you like my friends or not?”

“Uh,” Keith took a moment to think back to the quick introductions that happened not too long ago. “I think I’m going to like Hunk. Matt gave me a headache. I don’t know about Matt’s friend yet. And the girls scare me a bit.”

Lance snapped up with a laugh. “What do you mean the girls scare you? Have you never been around any or something?” The idea that Keith got intimidated so easily by being around girls made Lance laugh.

Keith sat back up in his bunk and crawled back to sit against the wall and continue to unwrap his hand. “As a matter of fact, no! The only girls I grew up around were coats, and they were not my favorite people to be around. But that’s not why I’m uncomfortable around them.”

Lance poked his head up so he could see through the railing. “Then what’s the reason? Pidge and Allura are harmless.”

“I have my reasons for Allura, but Pidge” Keith paused to think of his words carefully, “seems to be too smart to trust. Kind of like the coats.”

Lance crawled out of his bunk and stepped up on the mattress so he could cross his arms over the top railing. “I still think you’re wrong about Allura, but I get the Pidge part. She is smart, and can get a little too nosy for her own good. But I’m sure if we’re careful, she won’t get nosy around you and you’ll see she’s a cool person.”

Keith shrugged his shoulders in response and she started to unwrap his other hand. His hands were different shades of reds and purples and scabbed from his bar fight that happened earlier that week. Keith had been making sure to treat his wounds each day so that they could heal faster and hurt less. Luckily the bruises stopped hurting, but the now scabbed wounds on his knuckles and a few fingers made it uncomfortable for him to do the natural flexing when using his hands.

“Those look bad,” Lance said frankly as he watched Keith treat his wounds. “Do they hurt?”

“At first, but now the scabs just make it a bit uncomfortable to do basic things.” Keith pulled out a small ointment bottle from the first-aid kit to rehydrate his wounds while also disinfecting them.

“So, you never really told me how the fight happened,” Lance pointed out as he kicked his leg out behind him as if to test if the railing could hold his full bodyweight. “Like, I know some drunks go all hulk on people that do the tiniest thing to piss them off, but what exactly happened to get you involved.” Lance thought about the situation a bit further, wanting to make sure all his questions would get answered. “I mean, with your ears and tail out, I’m surprised you even when to Rufus’s, let alone got in a bar fight there.”

“It’s wasn’t a bar fight,” Keith interrupted, not wanting Lance to put words in his mouth. “I was there getting something to eat and ended up staying when Rufus announced last call upstairs. A guy wouldn’t leave, so I stepped in to help and we roughed each other up.”

“But what if something happened and your hood got pulled down?”

“I was wearing a hat and it stayed on the whole time.” Keith finished doing what he needed to do and started to rewrap his hands so that scabs wouldn’t get infected. “I can take care of myself Lance. I don’t need a fulltime babysitter.”

“Says the guy that literally ate out of my hand a few months ago!”

“I never ate out of your gross hands!”

“You’re right, you just used me as a personal pillow,” Lance shot back with a smug look on his face.

That one hit Keith pretty hard. Going that far to get a bit of comfort in the past was really embarrassing for him and his pride. He kicked his foot out from under him and pushed it again Lance’s smug face. “You bring that up again, and you’ll end up looking like me easily,” Keith threatened as he continued to push against Lance’s face.

Lance yelled out in protest, pushing back and trying to keep his grip on the railing. “Stop it! Your socks reek!”

“Says you! You know how bad you smell? I nearly barfed after you rolled down your window on the way here!”

The two continued to bicker, Keith trying to push Lance off the railing while Lance fought back by trying to swat Keith’s foot away. During the struggle, Lance was able to get Keith’s foot off his face, but he was now trying to climb up into the top bunk to give himself a better chance of fighting back.

“Hey guys, some of us are going to the lake, you want to-.” Pidge stopped midsentence and midstride into the room when she found the two on the top bunk. Lance was over Keith, with his hands holding Keith’s head. Both their faces a bright red as they stared at her. “To come along?”

“Ok,” Lance squeaked out with a broken laugh. “We’ll meet you there!”

Pidge stared at them more, looking more annoyed that she was surprised. “Ok,” she said as she started to walk backwards out of the room. “Oh, one more thing,” she started, grabbing the boys’ attention. “If I hear you two doing it this weekend, I will make you regret it.” She then left with a slight slam of the door.

Lance and Keith stayed frozen in place after she left, Keith from the sear fear of almost being caught with his ears out by the one person that genuinely scared him and Lance from the utter embarrassment he felt from Pidge’s warning.

Keith then broke the silence as an annoying sting of pain started to spread on the sides of his head. “Do you think she noticed?”

Lance crashed back into control and looked down at Keith. He then quickly jumped off and backed up to the other end of the mattress. “Uh, no I don’t think so! I think I covered them up before she could.”

“Ok good,” Keith said as he pushed himself up. He scratched at his ears to make the pain from them being touched go away. “I know this time was an emergency, but don’t do that again.”

“Ok!” Lance couldn’t really look at Keith anymore after what Pidge said. It made the whole situation awkward for him now and he knew that she was telling everyone about what she saw, which made him feel even more embarrassed.

Keith resettled himself and frustratingly had to rewrap both his hand after their lighthearted scuffle. “What was Pidge talking about with her hearing us?” Keith couldn’t really hear her threat with Lance covering his ears, but he figured that she threatened to make them regret not being quiet which really confused him. On their way to the room, Keith could hear that the girls were playing music in their room loud enough to come through the door. Even Lance heard it. So, if they can do that, why did him and Lance have to stay quiet?

“It was nothing, don’t worry about it.” Lance said in a rush, his embarrassment rising again from the situation. “You coming to the lake or not?” He hurried over to the ladder of the bunk bed and practically jumped down so he could get his shoes.

“Uh, yeah. I just need to finish this first.”

“Ok then!” Lance jumped up from hitting the floor and instantly went to grab his shoes. “If the others are already gone I’ll wait for you on the porch.” And then he was out, closing the door behind him.

“Ok?” Keith said quietly to himself. Just when he felt a little normal, now he was back in a situation where his confusion made him feel like an outsider.

Even though the weekend was going to be physically short, he felt as if it was going to last a lifetime now with what little he knew of what was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all!! Sorry for the wait.... Life and procrastination are problems of mine...... ANYWAY!!!! Here's the beginning of the anticipated camping trip!!!! Now I'm just not leaving this here to apologize for my lack of regularity, I'm also writing to stay that I won't be able to update for the rest of the month. Why? Because it's JuLANCE that's why!!! And with that I've found some month long challenge prompts made for it and picked out my favorite prompts and will be working on a ton of Lance focused drabbles for the rest of the month. Now, I'll try my hardest to keep it all about Lance, but if you follow my main Tumblr blog, you know that my Klance will most likely start to show..... ANYWAY!!!! I won't be posting them on here till the end of the month, but I will post them as I complete them on my Tumblr (kal-i-ka-stories) and DeviantArt (kal-i-ka). If you're interested in reading them, feel free to drop by!! Even though I haven't started them yet........ BUT THE MONTH IS STILL YOUNG!!!! If you want to drop me a prompt on either here or on my tumblr, feel free because I'm still stumped on what to do for some of the prompts and would gladly scrap them for something better! Anyway, HAPPY JULANCE EVERYONE!!!!!! I HOPE YOU ALL HAVE A WONDERFUL TIME DURING THIS BLESSED MONTH!!!! *kisses*


	15. Sorry and Thank You

Hey everyone,

So sorry about not updating in forever. I’m trying to finish my last year of college and all the stress from it and some personal things have just really killed my self-esteem and motivation. I’ve tried writing little things (suggested by my therapist) to hopefully improve my mood and relight my passion for writing big things again, but lately, my confidence with wanting to create things has just died. I’m even finding it hard to be confident with my small writings since no one seems to be interested in them.

Anyway, I’m still trying to work on this series and other things and push through my bad days when I’m able to, just going through a lot of personal things and just not really in a place where I’m confident about anything I do.

Also, I commissioned [taytei](taytei.tumblr.com) to have this made for y’all as an apology for being so behind. I figured since most of y’all liked the movie marathon part, I thought this scene would be perfect to do. It’s just my way of saying that I’m thankful for all my readers and love you all very much and appreciate your patience with me very much, that’s something I don’t get very much from people around me offline.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me:  
> tumblr: @pineapplekeith @sweetspacebaby  
> twitter: @sweetbabyklance  
> ff.net: @sweetspacebaby


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